When You Say Nothing At All
by azzie adams
Summary: Future!Edward/Harry. Rosalie finds a human baby in the ruins of an old house in England. She takes him and raises him as her own, but strange things happen as the baby grows. Lily and James live. Will they ever meet again? And will Harry want to leave?
1. Prologue

**When You Say Nothing At All**

**By: azzie adams**

**AN**: I own nothing.

**Rated: **PG-13 for the first part, but I'll warn you as we get closer to the sexually mature chapters. Not for a while though.

**Warnings: **Mother figure!Protective!Rosalie, Temporary!Mute!Harry, Future!Edward/Harry, Rosalie/Emmett, Jasper/Alice, Carlisle/Esme, Slash, Het, Explicit Scenes. Alive!Lily and James.

**Summery: ** Rosalie stumbled upon Godric's Hollow shortly after Voldemort is killed and hears the cries of a baby in the rubble. Baby Harry captures her heart and she takes him home to raise him as her own. Unfortunately, the Killing Curse has bound Harry's ability to talk, making him mute. Edward is the only one who can understand him fully. Hilarity ensues as the Cullens band together to raise the infant who seems to have extraordinary abilities, carrying him through toddler and teenage years. But when a strange man appears on their doorstep asking for him, Harry will have to choose between his destiny, and the life he has always known.

I've seen this kind of plot before, in which the Cullens find Harry as a baby, but I believe I have put a good spin on it. As usual, it's going to be quite humorous, but with lots of romance and chaos thrown in for kicks. =)

***

**Prologue**

*******

Rosalie wasn't known for being compulsive. She wasn't known for making rash decisions in an 'act first, ask questions later' context. Of course not. She was straight-laced, and always thought things through. She was the voice of reason in her family. Where Alice always followed her heart instead of her head; where Emmett always saw the humorous side to everything; where Edward generally stayed out of anything and everything; and where Jasper always thought of things in terms of what was safe for Alice, Rosalie always put everyone's safety first.

Rosalie toned everyone down, making them see the cold hard truth about everything in their endless lives. It was a dictatorship, and she was Dick.

Unfortunately, all the while she had been protecting herself and her family, she hadn't once ran across her one weakness:

A child.

She smelled blood and she had followed her senses to the horrific scene of a house in tatters, with a large green skull glowing overhead. She tossed her head. _Wizards._ Barbarians, all of them.

But as she came closer, she heard the quiet sniffles and the rustling in the rubble. She peered closer, wondering if there had been any survivors. It was human blood to be sure. It smelled new and sweet, like that of a….

Baby.

She let out a gasp as she pulled away what might have been a floorboard, and there underneath it lie a small child, barely a year old by the looks of him. He was curled in a thick blanket in the remains of what looked to be a white crib. The baby boy was nestled obliviously in the midst of the destruction, his arms and legs waving impatiently in the confines of the green blanket.

The fragile child smacked his lips softly together, waving his chubby little arms at the beautiful woman before him.

Rosalie's heart melted as she took in the tufted black hair that stood cutely atop the boy's head, his chubby cheeks and dimples created by giggling red lips. And the shimmering green eyes that peered up at her had her throwing all of her previous caution to the wind. The baby was alone. She didn't see anyone else in the rubble, and she was quite hurried anyway to bother looking.

The ability to have a child was the one thing that she would forever miss about being human. She had mourned over the loss for decades, thinking that she would never be able to enjoy holding a child that was her own, raising it and watching it grow to love her and adore her, and call her 'mom'. She and Esme shared that one regret.

But it seemed, even after all her cold judgment over the happiness and content dispositions of her family, she had been granted this one single wish. Providence had saved a baby from the rubble of the house. Saved him just for her.

She didn't know how long the child had been there, but he certainly wasn't crying. He was flapping his hands and legs like wings, refusing to sit still as Rosalie carefully took the small child into her arms. She had never held something so delicate and small in her immortal life, and was scared that her strength would crush the small being. But the baby looked comfortable as he snuggled into her arms, a hand reaching to grab at her hair and pull it to his face.

Rosalie's eyes glowed as she fell head-over-heels for the baby. She tucked the green blanket that matched the child's eyes snugly around him.

He smacked his lips again expectantly, but seemed disappointed as he tried again and again. His lips formed a small 'o' and he looked at his host again, tilting his head.

"What are you trying to say?" Rosalie whispered to him, touching his nose softly with the tip of her finger, smiling as the boy reached for her hand and started playing with her fingers.

"Where are your parents?" She asked him, expecting no answer from the happily playing boy. She surveyed the rubble quickly, but didn't smell any blood, nor did she see any other rustling in the debris. If the child had parents, they were dead, or they were gone. Rosalie bristled at the thought that parents could leave their child alone. But from what she could see; the white crib, the soft fabric of the blanket, the well-knit jumper on the boy's body and his cleanliness led her to believe that they were, in fact, good parents. Something had happened. She looked up at the dark mark again, frowning.

She shook her head as she looked back down at the baby, who seemed to have fallen asleep, despite her cold arms, which didn't offer much of the warmth she was sure he was used to. She stroked his small head softly. She could see something on his forehead peeking just underneath the black fringe, and soothed his hair back.

She gasped.

Underneath the hair was a lightening bolt-shaped scar. The boy squirmed in her hands as her cold fingers attempted to soothe the ripped skin. He must have gotten it when the house fell. Come to think of it, she had no idea how a small infant could survive an entire house collapsing around him. He was a miracle baby. She was sure of it.

Her eyes caught something knitted into the collar of the jumper. She pulled the blanket away from the baby's neck to get a better look. There was name right under the bib, knitted in a very elegant hand.

'_Harry Potter.'_

"Harry," she whispered, lowly, brushing the child's hair from his face. She smiled lovingly at him, and as he snored quietly in her arms, she vowed to take care of him, never let him out of her sight, and never let him out of her arms.

***

Rosalie wasn't sure what to say to her family as she stood in the woods just outside of Edinburgh. A good-sized manor stood before her, very old and ivy climbed up the sides and front of the estate. She looked down at the sleeping child in her hands. The baby hadn't made any noises since she left the ruins of his house. He had gurgled a bit and smiled widely as he pulled her hair a few times, but fell asleep quickly, as if lulled by the feel of the wind and Rosalie's smooth and quick steps through the forest.

The rest of her family was out hunting. She had split with Emmett just before she smelt the baby's blood. She figured he must have gotten sidetracked by something bigger and more promising and took off in an opposite direction, sparing him a hint of the heavenly scent of human blood.

Rosalie cuddled the boy as she entered the house. It was dark and she figured she would keep it that way for the sake of the sleeping child. She well knew that they didn't have any milk or food in the house. She would have to make it a point to get to the store as soon as possible. She didn't even know if Carlisle would let her keep the child, but food and nourishment were a must.

Unfortunately, it was late at night and she seriously doubted any market in the middle of the country would be open. She mentally prepared a list of things she would need to buy as soon as dawn broke and the markets opened. Bottles, formula, baby powder, silk cloth diapers with a fashionable diaper bag to carry them in…

She considered what her family would say when they discovered her with a child. Esme and Alice would swoon, certainly. Alice would probably have seen it coming, come to think of it, and Rosalie steeled herself as she thought of what her sister would see or had already seen as she tried to look for Rosalie on the way home. Esme would think Harry was a darling and of course want to keep him if he was, indeed, an orphan. She would probably worry heartily about Jasper, who would try to remain calm about a human in the house, especially one as fragile as Harry. Emmett would love him, Rosalie felt sure. He would be a bit cynical about his mate having a child with her, but behind all the humor and teasing, Emmett was kind and endearing, and would never refuse Rosalie anything she really wanted. And Rosalie _really _wanted Harry.

The only two that concerned her were Carlisle and Edward. The pair thought along the same lines really, having been together for longer than the rest. Edward would think it was irresponsible to keep a child, and probably think only about the safety of the child around Jasper. Rosalie knew Edward well. He would try to think of ways to avoid the inevitable, which was that Rosalie would refuse to put Harry in an orphanage after all the horrible stories she'd heard of them. Carlisle would suggest the same, but ultimately, they would know that Rosalie wouldn't settle for anything less than keeping him. They would see it in her eyes.

She carried the baby up to the room she shared with Emmett, rocking him slowly as she opened and closed the door gently. She moved the large couch to sit in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the back wall of the room, facing the woods where she expected the rest of her family to emerge from soon.

She heard a cough below her, and found Harry starring up at her owlishly with his almond-shaped eyes, blinked steadily up at her. His head lay in the crook of her elbow, snuggled closely to her chest. He moved his small fingers experimentally a few times as he regarded her, his eyes flickering over her face, almost as if he were trying to memorize her.

She felt bad for having woken him up. She'd been so careful to not move him, but then again, she couldn't blame herself for wanting to look even more into his green eyes, almost as if she was staring into a deep emerald pool.

The baby coughed again, and stretched out in her arms. Rosalie smiled affectionately at him. Not once had the child made so much as a cry or a laugh, and she was slightly concerned, but perhaps the child hadn't felt the need to. Rosalie felt a sadness for the child once he realized that his parents were gone forever.

Rosalie heard the echoing footfalls of her family in the woods, approaching the house quickly. She looked down at the sleepy boy, cuddling him closer and preparing to protect him if perchance Jasper lost control.

The boy snuggled his face into her chest, grasping the silk fabric of her blouse in his small hand. Rosalie pressed a kiss to his head protectively, whispering soothing words into his small ear.

"Don't you worry, little one. I won't let anything happen to you. I won't let anyone hurt you. No matter what anyone says, you're mine now." She smiled softly down at her new charge, and her heart swelled as she saw a smile spread across the boy's face, plumping his cheeks and stretching his red lips.

She was a vampire and he was a newborn human child. She stroked his chubby little cheeks and admired his face. He would be a beautiful boy when he grew up. She could already see it. With his unruly black hair and dazzling green eyes, he would be glorious.

For once, Rosalie let herself forget about the consequences. It wasn't logical. It wasn't reasonable.

It was love.

***

An old wizard surveyed the ruins with grievous eyes, the normal sparkle completely extinguished. He had searched through the rubble himself in the hopes of finding the small baby that should have been there. He had steeled himself to the knowledge that if he found what he was looking for, he probably wouldn't find it to be alive. Nevertheless, he cast a spell over the damage for signs of life or magic. He found none. So he scoured the remains fruitlessly, coming up empty handed as he turned over floorboards, brick and glass.

His heart broke as he saw the white crib laying in pieces amongst the shattered glass, not wanting to think about what could have happened to the child if it was not here. He at least hoped that he would have a body to bring back to Lily and James, who lay unconscious and battered in St. Mungo's. He had thought that perhaps Voldemort would have killed all of them in his pursuit of Harry, but he had quickly tortured, disarmed and disapparated the both of them without killing them. He only had one goal that night, and that was to kill the child that was prophesied to kill him one day. From the looks of it, he had succeeded. The old wizard felt the tears beginning to well behind his eyes.

He thought of the child's parents lying pale and oblivious in the Spell Damage wing of St. Mungo's with their friends around them, waiting for Dumbledore to return. It took all of Dumbledore's persuasive power to keep Harry Potter's godfathers from coming with him, telling them that their friends needed them and that he could handle Voldemort and making sure that Harry was all right.

But what could he tell them? Tell them that he failed them? That the baby they loved and cherished was gone?

He remembered holding the little boy in his arms soon after he was born. The almond-shaped eyes peering up a him and burying his hands in his long beard. The boy had a way of making everyone around him fall in love with him, as babies often did. But Harry… Harry had been special. He had been destined for great things.

He had been.

Now, there wasn't even a body to bring back to Lily and James, who had loved the child with everything that they were.

Albus felt a tear slide down his cheek as he disapparated, leaving the ruins of his friend's house… and their lives behind.

***

TBC

***

What do you think?

**Love, Azzie. **


	2. Now that I've Found You

**When You Say Nothing At All**

**By: azzie adams**

**AN:** I own nothing.

The chapters are going to vary in length, but won't ever be terribly short. I don't like it when authors do that, make you wait long periods of time for a chapter that is 500 words long or less. No bueno.

But the story will involve many chapters on Harry growing up, fear not. I'm not going to skip that part at all, for therein lies a lot of the humor. =) And as always, questions answered (as best as possible without giving anything away) at the bottom of the chapter.

Please enjoy, and thank you for the feedback! It's much appreciated! And two marriage proposals… wowzers. That was a good day. Lol.

***

**One:** Now that I've Found You

***

Rosalie didn't immediately go down to greet her family. She settled for holding the baby closer to her. She figured that either Alice or Emmett would be the first to burst into the room… or possibly Jasper, and she wrapped herself completely around Harry. Jasper was her brother, but she was prepared to fight him to keep her new baby safe.

They were quiet as they entered the house. Rosalie bit her lip nervously. She was hardly ever nervous about what her family would think of her actions. Normally that was her job to be nervous about their actions.

She was right, though. The first person to come through the door was Emmett. She was wrapped around the baby so tightly that he couldn't actually see her bundle until he walked around her.

"Rose, honey?" He asked, uncertain.

She turned her head to see her husband, standing tall and powerful in the doorway. He had to bend slightly to get through the door, and his muscular body took up the width of it. His curly brown hair fell into his eyes and his large golden eyes peered at her out of his strong facial features.

"Yes?" She asked, her perfectly shaped brows rising slightly as her bear of a husband fumbled slightly for words.

"Uh… is there… something you want to tell me?" Rosalie almost smiled at him, but it was no time to be humoring Emmett's adorable tactlessness.

"Don't you already know?" She asked, rubbing her thumb against the soft skin of Harry's arm.

Emmett pursed his lips. He couldn't see the child yet, but he knew there was something in Rosalie's arms that lay hidden from him.

He had about fainted when he heard what Alice had seen on their way back from hunting. The entire family had stopped in their tracks at her gasp, staring wide-eyed into space. Edward's eyes had widened immediately following. "What!?" He had cried, looking astonished and slightly agitated.

Alice squealed as she pulled out of her vision. "Oh! He's adorable!!"

"Who's adorable, darling?" Esme asked in concern, watching Edward closely for any other hints that might tell what Alice was talking about.

"Harry," Alice stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"And who, pray tell, is Harry?" Emmett asked with crossed arms. He always got a little agitated when Alice was being intentionally vague.

"Your son, Em!"

Emmett had raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You lost me."

"Emmett!! You're going to make a wonderful dad!" Alice cried as she threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly and squealing in delight.

"What the hell!? Are you telling me that I can procreate!?" Rosalie hadn't even told him she was pregnant! How could she even get pregnant? If Emmett could have gotten any paler, he would have with this news. It was impossible for vampires to have children… right?

Alice glared at him, and he quickly cowered. "You had better not talk like that in front of the baby."

Emmett bristled. He was about to have a panic attack and Alice was making him feel bad about harsh language?

He spotted Edward looking at him with a small smile on his face, but his eyes still showed uncertainty and worry. "Rosalie isn't having a baby, Emmett. We all know that's impossible," Edward assured him, and Emmett let out a sigh of relief.

"Alice, as much as we know you like to surprise us, I believe that it would be better to explain yourself sooner rather than later," Carlisle said, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder. He couldn't help but notice a strange yet hopeful look on Esme's face, and couldn't help but admit that he was curious about what Alice meant by Emmett having a son.

"I'll let Rosalie tell you," Alice smiled, before taking off through the woods with Jasper on her heels. Emmett and Edward looked at each other for a moment before going after them, and Carlisle and Esme followed.

So there Emmett was, in the bedroom he shared with his loving and demanding wife, and she was effectively hiding something in her arms by clutching it tightly against her cold body.

"Well…" Emmett floundered for something to say to his wife who was dodging the question of what was in her arms. Emmett was a lot of things, but subtle wasn't one of them. "Are you pregnant?"

Rosalie's eyes widened incredulously. There were a few things that she expected to come out of Emmett's mouth, but that wasn't it. She thought that perhaps she could mess with Emmett for a while, but the bundle in her arms wasn't anything to joke about. She turned away from her husband for a moment to look at the child who seemed to be trying to see over her shoulder. He was wiggling slightly and opening and closing his mouth as if hoping to make himself heard, but no noise was escaping.

Rosalie stood up and turned, and watched Emmett's face carefully, trying to assess his reaction before he actually said anything.

Emmett's eyes fell upon the small being playing in a soft green blanket nestled in Rosalie's arms. There was a tuft of black hair sticking out the top, but the blanket had covered the infant's face while he played.

"Oh, my…" Esme's voice floated past him, and Emmett felt his family standing behind him, watching the scene with cautious and, on the part of Esme and Alice, adoration.

Emmett approached the baby, and felt Esme coming up beside him as his bulky body would have shielded the baby from her eyes if she hadn't.

Rosalie stood still and let him come nearer until his stomach was almost touching the bundle. He lifted the blanket from the baby's face, and was automatically enthralled by the bright green eyes and smiling red lips. "Holy…" The only thought that Emmett could manage was that he probably could swallow the infant in one gulp, he was so small.

He almost took a step back when the baby reached its small hands out to him, as if asking for him to hold him.

Emmett felt the pull to embrace the child. He couldn't describe the need to take him and protect him. He looked up to Rosalie and couldn't help but smile when he saw that her eyes were bright and practically glowing with happiness. They shown out of her smiling face like beacons, which was very different than the typical critical mug that Emmett often saw. He decided that he could get used to that look.

Esme's face came around Emmett's muscular arms and looked down at the baby.

"Oh Rosalie! He's beautiful!" She cried, her own eyes brightening as they fell on the stretching baby that was reaching for Emmett.

"Rosalie?" Rosalie's eyes shut as she heard her father's voice. It wasn't harsh or angry, but then again she didn't think it would be. It was curious, perhaps concerned.

She looked down at the baby, not in any hurry to part with him. Little Harry was reaching for Emmett and Rosalie's heart swelled. It was all that she had ever hoped for, a baby of her own to raise with the love of her life. She couldn't imagine just how spoiled such a baby would be if Carlisle allowed her to keep him. But then again, perhaps if Carlisle saw the child, he would fall just as carelessly for him as Emmett and Esme had.

She turned to her father who had moved to stand slightly off to the side, the God-like man standing poised with his arms clasped in front of him, peering at her like a father would do if he was about to ask a serious question.

"I think that perhaps you have a little explaining to do?" Carlisle asked, and Rosalie nodded to him and quickly relayed everything that had happened, finding the baby, his destroyed house with no other bodies in sight, and even the green skull shining in the sky above it.

"Wizards killed his family?" Carlisle asked. He had been thinking for some time that the war between wizards and dark wizards was getting too close to home, and from Rosalie's description, she hadn't been far off from their house where the wizards had struck. Perhaps it was time to relocate elsewhere to remain hidden.

"And there were no other remains?"

Rosalie could have lied, but she knew that Edward would be able to tell, and Jasper would feel her nervousness as she did. "No. I didn't see any dead."

"His family could be out there looking for him, Rosalie. It would be irresponsible to simply take him without making sure first."

Rosalie didn't want to make sure. What if his family came forward and took the baby from her? It was selfish of her to think that way, but she couldn't help but think that the baby had been placed there, safety nestled in the debris specifically for her. She couldn't imagine letting him go.

"Carlisle, the house was demolished. It looked like it had been that way for a while. Surely if anyone was looking for him, the house would be the first place they would look?" Rosalie reasoned, falling into her defensive manner. "The baby was lying by himself in the rubble of his own house, alone."

Carlisle considered it. It did seem very weird that there were no remains and that the baby would be left there by himself. He couldn't imagine a scenario where a couple would get attacked, live, and leave without looking for their child's body at least, if they believed him to be dead.

Carlisle might have probed further, but the look in Rosalie's eyes was almost too much to bear. They were shining with desperation and hope, and Carlisle knew how ardently she had wanted a child. It was her only regret when she was changed into a vampire. He didn't know what kind of father would deny his daughter's only hope for her life.

His instinct was that the parents were dead. What other reason would they have for leaving a child on their own, especially one so young? And the mark above their house told him that perhaps they were dark wizards. Carlisle didn't care for wizards at all, but then again, most vampires didn't. Wizards believed them to be dark creatures, which wasn't true at all.

With a decision made, he turned to his daughter, and gave her a small smile. "What do you intend to do about Jasper?" Carlisle turned to his newest son.

Jasper stood stoically in the doorway, watching Rosalie and the child carefully as if assessing his own reaction to him.

Alice patted his arm. "He'll be fine. I've seen it."

Jasper came forward slightly, strengthened by Alice's words but still wary. Rosalie's grip tightened on the baby as he came forward. Esme came closer as well. "Edward?" Rosalie asked, looking like she was trying hard not to growl at Jasper. She loved him, but it was hard to trust him so close to her… _her_ baby.

"He's okay…" Edward kept a hand on Jasper's, ready to throw him away if he needed to, but his eyes were on the baby.

Edward couldn't deny the pull to the child. It was one that he considered must be the same for everyone. A baby was a gift, and he couldn't ignore that it gave him joy to see his normally stern and cynical sister looking so tenderly at another. Rosalie was born for the life of a mother, Edward knew when he saw her, but a human child?

He also thought it was odd that the baby hadn't made any noise yet. There wasn't a laugh or a cry, or anything, really. But his plump red lips curled into a smile, or pouted, or cooed silently, or smacked together. Edward could see Jasper coming closer through the baby's eyes, starring at him in wonder.

Jasper felt the curiosity coming from the boy. The boy was very curious. He didn't feel a hint of fear from him, but he did smell a small scent of blood, but to be honest, he was too transfixed by the boy himself to really take notice. Plus there was the knowledge that Rosalie would kill him if he so much as held the child the wrong way. Hell hath no fury like that of a woman whose baby was messed with.

Alice walked with Jasper as well, partly to make sure that nothing would happen, and partly to get a better look at the small little bundle of adorable in Rosalie's arms. She had seen the baby in her vision, but nothing compared to seeing him in person. She was already planning on all the cute baby things that she would be buying him, with Rosalie's permission of course. She was contemplating designer cribs with silk blankets, a Tiffany's sterling baby rattle, and countless handmade clothes from France, and toys for him to entertain himself with.

Esme was matronly by nature, but seeing her daughter carry around the small baby like a mother herself made Esme practically glow with pride. Her daughter had everything that she wanted and hoped ardently that she would be more satisfied with her life now that her only wish was fulfilled. She imagined that the baby would never have to sleep anywhere but in their arms, until he was too big, and then he would only sleep in Emmett's arms who could probably hold him until he was about five or so. But neither the less, Esme had the blueprints of the most wonderful and beautiful nursery that she could imagine in her head, with murals and stuffed animals to treat the boy's imagination.

Rosalie noted that the baby seemed to want Jasper, but she wasn't ready to let Jasper have him. Jasper wasn't ready to let himself touch him, either, and he nodded to her that he took no offense.

Instead, Rosalie placed the boy into Emmett's arms. Emmett could have held the boy comfortably with one arm, but Rosalie positioned his arms around the baby to give him the most comfort. Emmett looked at her gratefully. He didn't have much experience in holding infants.

"He's so small…" He pondered, rubbing the baby's head as he happily snuggled, completely engulfed, into his arms.

"His name is Harry," Rosalie said, looking at Harry as she leaned over Emmett's arm. "It was knitted into his jumper. I was thinking Harrison. Harrison Cullen."

"It has a certain ring to it, doesn't it?" Esme said, reverently. "Harrison Cullen," she repeated, as if tasting the name.

Emmett lifted the bangs as he felt something beneath it, and frowned darkly at the torn flesh beneath in the shape of a bolt of lightening.

Esme gasped beside him. "What happened to him!?" She stood on her tiptoes before giving up and telling Emmett to bend down so she could look closer. "Carlisle?" She called her husband over.

Carlisle examined the scar closely, likely just caused by the house falling. "We should take him to the hospital to get him checked out just in case, but there doesn't seem to be any infection."

Rosalie nodded right away and went about shouting demands to her siblings, who were more than willing to go along with her tirade for the time being. They would indulge her wiles as a new mother.

"Alice, I need diapers, bottles, formula, baby wipes, powder… everything you can find!" Alice and Jasper nodded. They would have to wait until dawn broke for the market to open, but the hospital would provide what they needed right away. "Emmett, you and Edward are coming with me, Carlisle and Esme."

Rosalie felt that the five minutes that Harry had been out of her arms was long enough, and quickly took him away from Emmett to coddle him to her chest. Harry didn't seem to mind though, and started playing with her hair again. The boy never seemed to tire.

Rosalie carried him gently down the stairs, not like the rest of her family who were jetting around the house so fast that all any normal human could see were flashes of bronze, blond, brown, and caramel. Harry surveyed the scene with blinking eyes, reaching his arms to try and catch the flashes.

Alice and Jasper were the first to leave, disappearing down the gravel driveway in Alice's yellow Porsche. Rosalie climbed into the middle of the back seat of Carlisle's Mercedes with Esme and Emmett on either side of her. Edward and Carlisle slipped into the front, and in no time at all, they were racing to the hospital.

Esme gave Harry her finger to hold on to as she cooed and kissed his forehead tenderly. He smiled at her, and yanked on Rosalie's hair some more. Rosalie only smiled at him, not seeming to care that he was ruining her perfect curls. Emmett placed an arm around Rosalie, and tickled Harry's stomach gently and the baby wiggled with silent laughter.

"Why doesn't he make any sound?" Emmett asked, and Rosalie glared at him, as if he was insinuating that there was something wrong with her child. "Calm down, babe. I'm just saying, he hasn't made a sound since we got here. Was he crying at all at the house?"

Rosalie looked at Harry worriedly. She couldn't imagine that there was anything wrong with the beautiful and perfect child in her arms. There couldn't be. She held him closer, and swiped her nose across his, and he giggled silently, again.

Esme frowned for a moment until Harry turned to her and seemed to be concerned that her face had anything other than a smile on it. He peered up at her with large green blinking eyes, and Esme's face bloomed again into a grin.

"Don't you worry, little Harry. Everything is going to be fine."

Rosalie stroked Harry's tummy soothingly until they arrived at the hospital, silently praying to whatever god had given Harry to her that he was fine and healthy.

***

Albus Dumbledore entered the Spell Damage ward of St. Mungo's, and showed himself to the room where Lily and James lay. According to a Healer he passed on the way, the former parents were both awake, and asking frantically for their son. He hoped against hope that Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had been able to calm them until he got back, but he didn't see what good it would do now.

Harry was gone, and he was the one that would have to tell them so.

A Healer came up to him, as if noticing his distress as he stood outside the door, trying to compose himself enough to enter. "Headmaster Dumbledore? Are you all right? You look pale."

Albus shook his head. "I'm afraid I am not all right, but it's nothing for you to worry about, my dear. How are they?" He gestured to the parents that he could vaguely see through the shaded window to their room.

"They're fine. Just a little shaken I believe. The torture was brief before they were disapparated." The Healer hesitated for a moment. "Sir? Is it true what I've been hearing today? Is You-Know-Who indeed gone? They say the Potter child…" She trailed off, and paled herself. "The baby?" She whispered.

Dumbledore shook his head. It was not his position to be telling anything of what he had seen to anyone but the parents. He placed a hand on the Healer's shoulder in comfort, before entering through the door.

The moment he saw the hopeful and frantic eyes of Lily and James Potter fall onto him, and the other two in the room rise to their feet quickly, Albus completely broke, and tears fell down his face.

He barely registered the sound of Lily's heartbroken exhalation before an earth-shattering scream broke through the hospital. The cry of a mother that had just lost her one and only child.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"

***

Rosalie's ear twitched and she looked around herself for a second with a frown. She blinked and shook her head. She could have sworn she heard something.

She turned back to the baby on the examination table, wiggling in protest to the machines around him. She soothed him by stroking his head, and he looked up at her, reaching for her in hopes that she could hold him again.

"It's okay, Harry. The machines won't hurt you, baby."

Carlisle moved the large contraption away from the table smiled at Rosalie. "No internal bleeding, and the scar should disappear in a few days. He's perfectly healthy. We didn't see any anomalies at all."

Rosalie sighed in relief, picking Harry up and cradling him. "I knew you were perfect," she whispered to him, bouncing him softly.

"Oh!" Esme cried in excitement. "Oh, Rosalie," she sighed as she kissed her daughter's forehead before dipping to kiss Harry as well. "A baby… I can hardly wait to see him grow up… I must get started on his room."

"His room will be connected to mine and Emmett's," Rosalie said determinedly, leaving no room for an objection.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, my love," Carlisle said as he took off his white coat and told the nurses they could leave. "I believe that it might be time to think of moving. A place where wizards are demolishing houses and families, I don't think would be safe for us or a baby."

Rosalie nodded right away. She hated moving, but the moment she heard that it would be safer for the child, she accepted it and didn't ask questions. Harry was her life now, and she had to think of what was best for him.

She could see Esme out of the corner of her eye just itching to hold the baby, so Rosalie reluctantly let Harry go to Esme. Esme let out a content sigh as she held him. Rosalie knew that Esme must miss her own baby that she had lost, so she would allow Esme to handle Harry as well, but Rosalie was also very possessive. Harry was her son now, make no mistake.

She felt Edward beside her, and turned to him. He was watching the scene with a thoughtful smile on his face.

Rosalie couldn't help but ask. "Is he thinking at all?"

Edward tilted his head. "His thoughts are what you would think a baby would think of. He's very fascinated with the color of Esme's hair, and I can see everyone through his eyes."

Rosalie nodded, biting her lip as she braced herself for the answer to her next question. "And… what does he think of when he looks at me?"

Edward looked at her comfortingly. "He loves you."

Rosalie beamed.

"Of course, he probably would feel the same way about anyone that smiled at him all the time and coddled him. He's a baby after all," Edward continued, waiting for her to glare at him.

"My baby loves me," Rosalie sighed, smiling wider than Edward had ever seen her do. It was amazing how much a person could change once they put a baby in the equation.

Rosalie felt Emmett's arms wind around her waist and felt him place his chin on her shoulder, bending down to do so. "Of course, he does," Emmett told her, kissing her cheek. "How could he not?'

Her baby. Her Harry.

As they arrived home again, Rosalie sat down with Harry on the couch. She looked up and saw that the sun was rising. Alice and Jasper were still gone, probably scouring the city for an open market. She trusted Alice to find the best possible in the time allowed before they could get some nicer things for him. She could think of all the wonderful toys she would buy him, the adorable small clothing made from the best material, a red-wood crib that he would probably never sleep in because already Rosalie could see him getting cozy in her arms. No crib could afford that kind of comfort.

Harry was dozing, his eyes barely open but Rosalie could tell he was watching the people around him still. His eyes followed Esme who walking through the house with blueprints in her hands and contemplating walls. He watched Carlisle who was talking in fast tones to a man on the phone. He watched Emmett as he tried in vain to sneak up on Edward. Edward ducked out of the way just as Emmett thought he had him and had him in a headlock which proceeded into an all out wrestling match there on the floor before Rosalie and the baby.

Rosalie eyed them and promptly told them to be quite for the sake of Harry who was trying to sleep.

As she watched him move about in her arms, and awful thought occurred to her.

Edward looked up as he heard, regarding her horrified face with mirth.

"What?" Emmett asked, realizing that his wrestling partner had gone still. "Rose?" He asked in concern.

"I… I don't know any lullabies…" Rosalie looked thoroughly upset with herself for not knowing something that was so vital to lull a child to sleep.

Emmett blinked at her, before falling back in relief. "Don't _do_ that! You scared me!" He popped up again and came to her side. He kissed Harry on the forehead and proceeded to swish their noses together as he cooed at the baby. "Who-oh, baby! Mommy wasn't know a lullaby! What's are we gonna do!? What are we gonna…" Emmett shut his mouth quickly as he looked up to see Rosalie glaring at him heatedly. "Easy, Rosie. It was just a joke…"

"Edward?" Rosalie looked at him, and he already knew what she wanted.

"What makes you think I know of any?"

"You're the musical one, Edward. I just need a song that will put him to sleep. A good one."

Edward sat on Rosalie's other side, and he leaned in over the baby. Harry's eyes widened a bit as he saw Edward come closer and watched him in an almost expectant manner, twiddling his fingers idly.

Edward smiled at him and felt the pull again as Harry smiled softly back, his tired eyes blinking slowly. Edward brought his finger to Harry's hand and chuckled as Harry grabbed it immediately. Then, quietly, Edward began to sing.

_Deep in the meadow, under the willow_

_A bed of grass, a soft green pillow_

_Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes_

_And when again they open, the sun will rise. _

Harry's eyes drifted slightly though Edward's index finger was still clasped firmly in his hand. Rosalie smiled at him, kissing his head as Edward's voice still drifted over them.

_Here it's safe, here it's warm_

_Here the daises guard you from every harm_

_Here your dreams are sweet and tomorrow brings them true_

_Here is place… where I love you._

Harry's eyes closed finally, his grip slackening, but Edward let his hand clasp Harry's smaller one, stroking it slightly as he kept on singing to make sure that Harry was indeed asleep. Harry's head leaned against Rosalie's chest, his little shoulders and legs encased snugly in her arms.

When he finished, he couldn't help but keep staring at the sleeping baby. Then the thoughts around him started to surface, and realized that Alice and Jasper had arrived home, and everyone had gathered around the cough to listen and watch Harry sleep. Harry didn't notice. He slumbered away as if he had no idea that when he woke up, it would be a new day. His previous life would be gone, and a new one would start.

***

The next few days the Cullens made travel arrangements and packed their things and said goodbye to England. They bought a house in the country in Austria. There was plenty of space to make a nursery for Harry, and wide open spaces in which to raise him in.

Harry had been a little restless at first with all the moving about and the strange new places, but he adjusted very well for a baby. He surveyed the gardens around their house curiously. Rosalie let him crawl amongst the flowers and Harry had learned to hide himself in the flowerbeds. While the rest of the family could smell his exact location, they humored him and pretended to search for him fruitlessly before one would lift him out of a patch of flowers triumphantly, evoking laughs from the delighted baby.

Harry never spent a moment out of their arms. The only time they ever set him down was to change his diapers which were made out of the finest silk money could buy. Rosalie, Alice, and Esme wouldn't settle for less. Rosalie was very possessive of him, but there were times when Emmett could coax her to spend some quality time with him, and so she would leave her precious charge with Esme or Alice.

He never made a sound, though. Carlisle had gotten him checked many times to see if he was mute, or if he vocal cords were working. Everything was fine. The only explanation he could find was that Harry just did not want to talk, but that was odd as well because he could have sworn that he had seen Harry try. He mouthed words like 'mom' and 'dad', but not a sound ever escaped. When he cried, he did so silently, or voiced his discontent by breathing harshly and wiggling incessantly. His laugh and giggle was silent as well, his red lips opening in a wide smile. The only thing that was missing was the sound.

Rosalie cried tearlessly when she learned that she might never be able to hear the sound of her baby's voice. Harry showed his concern for her by never wanting to leave her arms, snuggling close to her whenever she looked like she might cry.

Rosalie rocked Harry soundlessly as he dreamed. She never tired of holding him, but sometimes had to give him up as other people in the family were just as drawn to him as she was. Even Edward had shown a fondness for him. She had spent a lot of time with Edward and Jasper, asking them about Harry's temperament and what he liked and didn't like.

She even went out to buy a book on sign language to make sure that even though she couldn't hear him, she could still talk to him.

Harry seemed to come to grips with the fact that his other parents were gone. Every once in a while, when Rosalie would call herself mommy or Emmett daddy, Harry would scrunch his nose and look around expectantly, but then a sad look would overtake his face, and he would cry. There was no mistaking the tears that streamed down his face, and Rosalie was at a loss for what to do to comfort him.

Edward would sing to him, and Emmett would bounce him in his lap playfully, or Rosalie would rock him to and fro in her arms, but nothing seemed to work. Harry only calmed down when he wanted to, and sometimes, it took hours. He would cry himself to sleep, and when he woke, it would be as if nothing had happened before. Rosalie's, as well as everyone's, heart broke to watch Harry in distress, reaching out for someone that wasn't there. But there was nothing they could do. Carlisle even said that it was normal. He would forget them in time, but even that sounded bad. Rosalie didn't want to share Harry with anyone, but didn't think it was right to let him forget about his real family, a family that had probably died to protect him. She would make sure he knew that when he grew up.

***

Rosalie sat in the living room with Harry sitting up in her lap with a hand to support his back. She took a look at the book, and setting it down, she made her fingers form the words 'I love you,' speaking it as she did so. In the book it told her that even if the person could hear, it helped to teach them a language by speaking as well as signing to help them in their mute state.

"I…" She signed to him, smiling at him as his eyes surveyed the fingers that she held before him. "Love," she clasped both hands to her heart, before bringing a finger to tap him on the nose. "You."

Harry giggled and tried to grab at her fingers. Rosalie took his restless arms and simulated the same signs with Harry's small fingers.

Alice leaned over the back of the sofa to smile adoringly down at Harry, who looked fascinated by what Rosalie was doing with his hands.

"He's going to be so spoiled when he grows up," Alice cooed at him. "With that face, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to refuse him anything."

"Harry's not going to be spoiled," Rosalie cooed pulling Harry up to nuzzle his face. "He could never be spoiled. He's perfect."

"You better stop this perfect stuff, Rose, or the poor kid is gonna get a complex," Emmett laughed. "Come to daddy, Harry!" Emmett took Harry from Rosalie's lap and held him above his head as he ran around the room. Harry's entire body fit in between Emmett's hands and his arms and feet spread in the air like he was flying, his mouth laughing with glee.

"Emmett!! Put him down! So help me if you drop him!!" Rosalie was about to snatch Harry from Emmett's hands when Esme took her hands to calm her.

"Emmett has a good grip on him, Rosalie. Look! He likes it!" Esme smiled as the bull of a man coddled and played with the little boy.

Rosalie turned to Jasper, who nodded. "He's having fun. Not a trace of fear at all."

Rosalie sighed in dissatisfaction. Esme soothed her, rubbing her hands together. "I know that it's hard to watch other people with him, darling, but we're not taking him from you. He's your baby and I know that you are protective, but you have to let others have their turns with him. He's a very special baby and we all feel drawn to him. Emmett's not going to put him in danger. We care about him so much already."

Rosalie looked around at her family members. Emmett was now running with Harry in the safe cavern of his arms through the rooms with Alice on his tail chasing them. Edward was laughing, but his eyes followed Harry closely, making sure that Emmett had him tucked in tight and safe. Jasper and Carlisle both were smiling widely with mirth. In fact, Rosalie didn't think that anyone had stopped smiling since they had brought him home.

"Ahhh!!" Emmett fake cried, as they ran into Carlisle and Jasper before taking off in the other direction. "It's evil uncle Jasper!! The horror!! Run for your life, Harry!!"

Harry giggled, reaching for Jasper over Emmett's large shoulder. Jasper gave chase, and soon all the sibling were trying to get Harry from Emmett's arms.

Rosalie sat back and watched her husband affectionately. Emmett certainly seemed to be enjoying Harry thoroughly. He'd make a wonderful father, Rosalie already knew.

Emmett was now surrounded by Alice, Jasper, and Edward, and they were closing in on him mock-threateningly.

"Okay! We surrender!" Emmett held Harry's arms up in surrender, and Alice took Harry and whirled the giggling baby around in the air.

Rosalie sighed. So she was a tad bit protective and a little more so possessive. But if Harry enjoyed it, then what kind of mother would refuse?

She smiled widely when Harry caught sight of her, and held his arms out for her to take him again. She zipped up to him, squeezing him gently.

"There's my boy," She whispered as she kissed his nose, which he scrunched up afterwards. "You want your mommy…"

At that, Harry sniffed and looked around again, before looking forlornly into Rosalie's suddenly concerned face. But he didn't cry. Not this time. But he still looked without finding what he was looking for.

***

**TBC**

***

The lullaby used is from 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins.

Caraid123: Will Harry's parents find them? Eventually. Will Harry want to go with them? I dunno. What do you think? =)

DianaLynn0724: Hehe. That's going to be fun to write. Everyone's reactions when weird stuff starts happening around Harry.

LacuStellar: Ooooo…. That's a good idea… can I take that? Thanks. *grabs and walks away* =)

**Love, Azzie. **


	3. To Sweet Beginnings and Bitter Endings

**When You Say Nothing At All**

**By: azzie adams**

**AN: **I own nothing.

So… I'm a little bit in love with Emmett being a father right now, so excuse me for being a bit mushy. I love children. And animals. Really, I like anything cute and cuddly, how's that?

Harry is about fifteen months old here, because that's how old he was at Halloween. Harry is learning ASL, because the Cullens speak English and that's how they communicate with each other so I though that would be appropriate. And yes, eventually, Harry will speak again, but not till much later.

Thanks to my wonderful new beta OccAmy Phyre, who did a fabulous job, and yes, I just said fabulous. ***hugs* **Now the stories won't be littered with my ramblings because most of the time I do tend to write 'out loud'. =) It's a curse, really.

***

**Two**: To Sweet **Beginnings** and **Bitter** Endings

***

"Get him! Kill him!"

"That's what you have a bazooka for."

"I'm running out of bullets!"

"Emmett!!! You just killed another civilian!"

Emmett growled as he jerked his controller around, his digital assassin managing to kill another group of hostages, leaving the gunmen 'alive'. He was cross-legged on the floor with Harry in his lap, who was staring at the screen with wide eyes. He and Jasper had decided to keep the sound really low so as not to startle him with the gunshots.

Jasper was in the chair to his left, fingers working furiously on the controller. "Congratulations, Emmett. You're officially a terrorist," he laughed. He turned to Harry whose mouth had curled to form a small 'o'. "How do you feel about your father being a terrorist, Ry?"

Harry turned to Jasper and reached for him as if he knew what he was talking about.

Emmett looked down at him as if wounded. "Harry! I'm your father and it's my time to hold you. In a few hours I have to give you back to evil Mommy Rosie and then I'll never get to see you!" He nuzzled Harry's head with his nose, mussing up the baby's hair as Harry giggled. "Besides, you don't want Jasper. He'll eat you up."

If Harry hadn't been sitting in Emmett's lap, Jasper probably would have attacked him by then. He'd gotten used to Emmett's jibes, but he was rather proud of himself for being able to resist the smell of Harry's blood. But Jasper might kill himself before he even though of killing Harry anyway, so that was a plus.

Jasper had held Harry a few times when Rosalie let him and found it very relaxing. He was known for being able to calm others down, but Harry had something about him that brought him ease even when he was trying to focus on not losing himself. It was easy with Harry around. He didn't want to say that it was because Harry never made a sound because he knew how much Rosalie hated the fact that she would never hear him call her 'Mommy'. It also hurt the rest of the family to know that they would never hear his voice.

"EMMETT AND JASPER CULLEN!!!"

Rosalie's voice, on the other hand, was something everyone was getting even more familiar with over the last week or two; Especially her angry voice.

The two in question turned their heads to see Rosalie and Esme, back from the market with baby food and milk, looking at them as if they were demons with her sweet and innocent baby in their clutches.

"What now?" Emmett asked, slightly defensive. It seemed that everything he did with Harry was wrong, or at least could be construed as wrong as far as Rosalie was concerned.

"How _dare_ you sit there and play that _horrible_ game in front of him! You'll scar him for life!" Rosalie made to snatch Harry out of Emmett's arms. Emmett stood quickly and backed up, holding Harry tightly to his chest. Harry regarded Rosalie with concern, upset that she looked angry.

"Rosalie, calm down or _you'll_ scar Harry for life," Edward remarked. He had been in the other room working on the piano when he heard the ruckus and came to find out what had happened.

"I'm afraid Rosalie's right, Emmett. Watching that kind of violence isn't good for a baby's development," Esme said, almost sorry that she was having to scold her son for not knowing any better.

"We turned the volume down so we wouldn't scare him! How would he know what was going on anyway?" Emmett protested, playing keep away with Harry like he did most of the time whenever Rosalie tried to take Harry when it was Emmett's turn. "It's my day! You've had him for three days in a row! He's gonna develop a complex!"

"Careful with him!" Rosalie snarled, even though it was clear that Emmett had him safe. He had his back facing Rosalie and Harry was burrowed in his large chest. Rosalie's hands couldn't even reach around him.

Alice and Jasper were watching the display warily while Esme unpacked the groceries. It _was_ Emmett's turn. Rosalie was getting better at sharing Harry but she still had a long way to go. It didn't help that she always thought that everyone else was doing everything wrong by Harry. Some things never changed, even with a baby.

Emmett glared at Rosalie over his shoulder, trying to soothe the upset baby by stroking his back and stomach slowly. "You're upsetting him, Rose," Emmett warned.

As reluctant as Emmett was when he found out that Rosalie fully expected him to take over as the father-figure to Harry, he found that he really enjoyed it. It was hard not to enjoy Harry's company when the boy drew them in with his giggles and smiles, and the way that he cuddled into them when they held him or played with him. Harry really liked it when Emmett would hold him high up in the air and run about the house, making like he was flying. That was something that Rosalie didn't approve of either.

Edward came forward to take Harry out of Emmett's arms and Harry went willingly. He smiled as Harry tucked his head into his neck. Edward saw Rosalie's angry and frantic face in Harry's thoughts and shushed him by rocking him back and forth.

"Is he all right?" Rosalie asked, her previous argument with Emmett forgotten as she saw the distressed look on her baby's face. Emmett still looked upset but was moving toward Harry slowly as well.

"He's a little upset, but he's fine," Jasper said, soothing Harry as he approached.

Rosalie moved closer as well, looking at Harry whose head was snuggled into Edward's neck. His hair was growing longer. It laid over his forehead, flattened by Edward's cheek pressed to the top of his head, his tiny hand was fastened to the collar of Edward's shirt. Rosalie ran a finger down the side of his face and smiled softly at him. He returned the smile shyly.

"Sorry to upset you, baby…" Rosalie whispered, her breath tickling his cheek. He giggled, his red lips stretching widely and burying his face into Edward's shirt again. Rosalie smiled at him, kissing his cheek before backing up again and turning to Emmett, who was watching her warily.

"None of those kinds of video games when you have Harry," she said firmly, leaving no room for debate.

Emmett nodded obediently. "Sure sure…" He hoped that that was the end of it.

"…and I really wish you would put more effort into learning sign language for when Harry gets older. How do you expect to be able to speak to your child if you can't sign for him? And you need to come shopping with us and start helping me whenever Harry needs to be changed, because every time Harry needs his diaper changed, everyone strangely disappears…"

Emmett groaned. Some people thought that being a mother made her all the more appealing to others and brought out some of the best qualities in her.

Apparently, this wasn't the case with Rosalie.

All of her best attributes were spent on Harry, leaving the rest of them to deal with her worst.

"Come now, let's get Harry something to eat," Esme chided and Edward went to her in the kitchen as she put some milk in a plastic sippy cup. Harry had been to a few more screenings at the hospital and they found that Harry's iron count was fine so they could give him regular milk. Harry rejected cold milk though so Esme still heated it.

Edward smiled as Harry's eyes lit up when he saw the cup, reaching for it. Harry took the cup from Esme and brought the sip to his mouth as he leaned his head under Edward's chin again.

Edward really couldn't understand his need to smile as he felt the baby's soft hair under his chin. His skin was so soft and warm, like being encased in a blanket. Harry's eyelashes fluttered against his collarbone, his cheeks working as he drank his milk.

He glanced at Rosalie who looked like she might cry watching Harry. Edward could feel in her thoughts that she was beating herself up for possibly scaring him, but Harry was fine. Frankly, everyone in the room was watching Harry like awaiting his judgment, as if he was about to shun them for something.

But Harry just peered at them innocently and curiously, tucked safely under Edward's chin and sipping away at his milk. Edward could clearly see everyone's faces through Harry's eyes, noticing the more vibrant colors that he saw and the different ways that he was regarding people. Somehow… it was different.

Rosalie looked warmer and welcoming than Edward would ever be able to see. Emmett's smile was more adoring, more mature, and his eyes shined brighter. Alice and Jasper looked older… yet younger as well, yet the same thing that Edward saw everyday. Alice's eyes looked softer and Jasper looked like perhaps he hadn't gone through a war, wasn't as burdened by his past and his irresistible thirst. They all looked better, somehow, through Harry's eyes.

He wondered what Harry saw when he looked at him.

***

Rosalie bounced Harry carefully on her hip as she perused the upscale baby store, Emmett, Edward and Jasper were pushing the many carts, with Alice and Esme flitting around and scooping up just about anything they could find that they even slightly thought Harry would need. The store was full of expensive fabrics, beautiful cribs, baby clothes and toys. It was a baby's heaven, really. Too bad Harry was too young to appreciate it.

"How about this?" Alice held up a stuffed lion that was about twice her size.

"What could he possibly do with that? That's thing's humungous!" Emmett cried as Alice tried to stuff it in the cart which was obviously too small for the animal. Harry blinked owlishly at the lion, tilting his head slightly. Alice cooed softly while waving it at him. It looked rather funny with the skinny pixie-like girl holding a stuffed lion that probably could have eaten her if it were real.

Harry obviously thought so because he started giggling at her, though his hands still clung to the silk of Rosalie's blouse.

It had been a week or two since she'd found him. She'd begun to lose track of time. The only thing that signaled it anymore was when Carlisle would leave for work in the mornings. She wasn't struck by dawn or dusk. The only sense of time she had was when Harry woke or when he fell asleep, which was many times during the day and night. It was a good thing they were used to an erratic schedule so they were able to appreciate every single moment spent with Harry.

"Rose, what do you think of these?" Esme held up two pairs of baby jumpers, both silk and white and perfect…. except…

"No child of mine is going to wear clothes with animals on them!" Emmett cried in horror. "Absolutely not! I refuse. I draw the line at jumpers with sheep on them!"

"But they're cute!" Alice protested, already holding them to Harry's small body.

"Back away! Don't touch him!" Emmett flung himself in front of Rosalie and Harry. Harry seemed very amused with Emmett's antics, but then again, he always was. No one could make Harry laugh like Emmett. No one could calm Harry like Jasper. And when Harry needed to sleep, Edward or Carlisle took the reins. Edward would play or sing and Carlisle would read to him. When Harry needed to eat, Esme would give him a small meal worthy of a baby prince. And Alice and Emmett always liked to play with him. But most of the time, Harry liked to be in Rosalie's arms, cuddled up, being smiled at and watching her make those gestures with her fingers.

"These are some of the best clothes money can buy, Emmett," Esme tried to soothe him. "Harry likes pictures of animals."

"Well he's not gonna see this picture show unless he's fixed in front of a mirror," Emmett glared. "Look! That one doesn't have animals on it."

"There's an elephant on back of it."

Emmett blinked slowly, a blank look overtaking his face. "I hate this store."

"Ooo!! I think he likes it!" Alice squealed as Harry reached his tiny hands to the shirt she held, looking at it curiously.

Emmett took the shirt from Harry, holding it up before his eyes, looking sternly at the small baby. "Ry? Tell me honestly. Are you going to be content wearing a shirt with a duck on it?"

Harry blinked at him, as if trying to judge what exactly it was that Emmett wanted from him. He looked at Emmett, down at the jumper, and then back to Emmett. Then, in his deciding move, he turned and started to tug on Rosalie's hair instead.

"There! The prodical speaks!" Emmett cried, tossing all the animal shirts and jumpers out of the shopping cart.

Alice watched in disappointment as the clothes fell in a heap on the floor. "But they're cute…" She sighed as she looked around the store again before her eyes lit up once more. She flitted around again and soon there was a heap of stuffed animals falling into Jasper's cart.

Jasper shook his head at all the animals in the cart, reminding him of how he was once again getting hungry, even though he had only eaten a few hours before.

"And look Rosalie! I got you a book of lullabies!" Alice said as she held the book for Rosalie to see. Rosalie rolled her eyes. She was vain about a lot of things, but she was beginning to think that the lullabies were best left to one who could sing. Besides, it was one of the only times that she would allow Edward to take Harry when it was her time with him. And he enjoyed it, she knew. He could sing to Harry for hours.

"We need coloring books too!" Rosalie called to Alice as she and Esme ran off to find more things.

"And if you value your lives they won't be books full of animals!!" Emmett cried in warning. "Seriously!? You watch. When Harry gets older the first thing he's gonna want is a dog, or a cat, or a rabbit, or a bear… or a snake! And you'll have no one to blame but yourselves."

"We didn't say anything," Edward and Jasper laughed.

"If he asks for it, God knows Rosalie will let him have it. That will be an interesting conversation. 'Sorry, Harry, but we haven't eaten in a while, and Fluffy was there, so….'"

"Shut up, Emmett," Edward said, punching his brother on the shoulder.

Rosalie smiled at their antics, feeling more at ease than she was before. She bounced Harry a little more before she noticed that someone was watching them. She turned and saw a clerk looked at them, her expression slightly critical.

When she saw that she was caught, the woman smiled. She walked up to them slowly, looking at Harry. "That's a darling child, honey," the woman said. "Is he your younger brother?"

Rosalie frowned at the woman who was looking at her expectantly, feeling a little defensive that the woman had automatically judged her to be too young to have a child.

"No, he's mine," Rosalie said defensively, holding him closely.

The clerk looked taken aback. Rosalie only looked about 18 years old, still very young to have a child. She had thought that the older woman with them had been the mother, but the blonde in front of her looked positively appalled at such an assumption.

She apologized quickly, asking how old the child was.

Rosalie faltered, looking at Harry and back at the woman. "I…" She tried to think of just how old Harry might look to a human who was experienced with children, as the clerk seemed to be to be working in a baby's shop. "Fourteen months," she guessed, hopefully right in her timing.

The clerk nodded, smiling tightly. In her eyes, a girl so young shouldn't have a baby. She turned to the large man standing behind Rosalie and glared at him accusingly. After seeing the interaction between the two of them earlier, she had judged him to be the father. Emmett's eyes widened; why did it seem like everyone always blamed the guy?

"Well…" the clerk started again, her lips pursed. "Is there anything I can help you find?"

Rosalie didn't like the woman and promptly told her to bug off. As an afterthought, she probably could have asked if there was anything she would recommend for a mute child, but she also didn't want to tweak the woman's judgmental nature any further.

She patted Harry's head. There was nothing wrong with him. He was perfect. She couldn't love him more if she had birthed him herself. She wasn't familiar with how other children would react to a boy who couldn't… or wouldn't… talk, but she would take every precaution to make sure that he wasn't ostracized. She wouldn't be able to handle it if anyone hurt Harry's feelings because of such a disability.

***

Rosalie spread her fingers out and rested her thumb against her chin. "Mommy," she said aloud before taking Harry's fingers and doing the same.

She'd been working with him and was slightly frustrated that Emmett had snuck off while she'd been changing Harry's diaper, once again, by herself. She felt bad for criticizing him, which she seemed to be doing more than praising him as of late, but she lost her temper and her patience faster with him because she was using the bulk of the patience she had on Harry.

She had come to the conclusion that usually he didn't spend time with her because he was afraid of getting yelled at again, but this was important. She would try and be calm and rational when he got back and convince him to learn sign language. Diapers could wait, but she really wanted him to be able to talk to Harry.

She lifted the hand to her forehead in the same gesture and said 'Daddy.' _'Daddy who has flown the coop, once again,'_ she drawled to herself.

"Aunt!" Alice said, smiling widely at Harry while clenching her fingers in a fist and turning it back in forth for him to see.

Rosalie smiled at Alice, thankful that at least someone was helping her. "Do you know where Emmett is?" She asked and Alice shrugged.

"He and Jasper went hunting. Something about bringing home the bacon for Harry," she giggled.

Rosalie sighed. It was a valid reason, she had to admit.

"What's the one for uncle?" Edward asked, taking a seat beside Rosalie. Harry was perched in her lap facing her.

Rosalie made the gesture for it and Edward repeated it. "Uncle," he said to himself, but didn't like the way it sounded for some reason. Nevertheless, he repeated the hand motion.

They heard a car pull into the driveway and in seconds Carlisle was coming through the door. He kissed Esme who was working to prepare a snack for Harry. It smelled like sugar cookies.

He set his folders down on the counter and went to greet Harry. "Hello, Harrison!" He said as he kissed the baby on the head. "What did you all do today?" He asked as he took a seat with them at the table.

"We took Harry shopping, Rosalie got pestered by a clerk who doesn't believe in young people raising kids and Emmett emotionally scarred him by playing one of those horrid video games with Harry in his lap," Alice said quickly. "And then Rosalie got angry and scarred him again with her face."

Rosalie glared at her. "I didn't scar him. Edward?"

Edward only laughed.

"Well, I'm surprised he's not completely gone by now. What an energetic little thing, aren't you?" Carlisle said as Harry reached for his hand.

As if on cue, Harry let out a small yawn, still reaching for Carlisle. Whenever he did this, they had come to find out, he usually wanted a story read. Carlisle left to get one of Harry's picture books from the living room.

"Get the one with the colors, dad!" Rosalie said, "I'm trying to teach him colors now."

She turned the page in her book and Carlisle returned in seconds with the book of colors. He also brough another story book for when Harry was finally ready for sleep, which they had learned could be a matter of minutes or hours.

As they turned the pages, Rosalie would do the signs for the colors. Carlisle, Edward, Alice and Esme watched in interest as she did so.

Harry's eyes watched attentively as her fingers made the signs for the different colors and as Carlisle turned the pages, he would say the different colors aloud. Red, Orange, Yellow…

Green.

Edward started all of sudden, watching as Harry's face seemed to contort abruptly as a memory started to play through his mind. Harry was frowning, his red lips scrunched together and his head tilting in confusion. His brows were furrowed.

"Edward?"

_A bright green light, surging through the room, right for him. A cackling laughter in the background. _

'_Harry! Not HARRY!'_

Rosalie couldn't understand. One second Harry was fine and the next he was burrowing in her lap, silent tears running down his scared face. Something had frightened him. She looked to Edward. He looked horrified and confused at the same time.

"Edward! What's happened?"

Edward watched Harry curl into a ball, teary eyed and sad. He wasn't sure what he had seen, but something told him that it had something to do with how Harry's parents had died. One thing was certain; Rosalie was right: it was a wizard's attack. And he was pretty sure that he had just heard Harry's mother crying for Harry's life.

"_Edward!_"Rosalie hissed in irritation. She held the bundle that Harry had folded himself into and shushed him softly, kissing his forehead and rubbing his stomach soothingly. She hummed to him as her cheek pressed against his head, hoping that the vibrations might soothe him.

Harry hiccuped a few times, sniffling softly in her arms.

"Just a bad memory, I think…" Edward said quietly. "I think green reminds him of some kind of wizard curse that killed his family. I could hear his… mother… screaming for someone to spare him, I think…" Who could kill a child? How could someone look at Harry, or any baby really, and kill them?

Obviously whoever it was, they were insane, if the maniacal laughter was anything to go by.

Edward watched Harry in distress and could barely keep himself from taking him from Rosalie's arms, rocking and singing to him until every one of those fears disappeared. But Rosalie had him, holding him tightly as he clung to her, his face red with fright. She whispered sweet things in his ear and Edward heard his heart eventually slow to normal rate.

Carlisle had thrown the book aside and leaned in to place a cold hand on Harry's head. It was odd how the coldness didn't seem to bother the baby. Most of the time he was wrapped up in a blanket to protect him from feeling their cold touch, but even when they did touch him, he didn't seem to notice. He didn't even twitch when Carlisle's hand came down upon his forehead.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that it's time to get him to sleep," Carlisle whispered to Rosalie. She nodded, feeling concerned and helpless at the same time, wanting to make Harry feel better. There were still tears running down his face.

Alice had run into the next room and came back with one of Harry's favorite stuffed animals, a small black dog that he liked to cuddle with while he slept. "Here, Harry," she smiled brightly down at him, pressing the dog into his arms.

"What else did you see, Edward?" Carlisle asked as he watched Harry grasp the dog around its neck. The hair of the dog and his own black mop were the same color. Rosalie stood up and began to walk around the house, rocking Harry back in forth and humming to him softly.

"Not much. Mostly I just heard… that man… the wizard I believe, I think he's insane. He was laughing, and it looked like… one of those colorful beams of light that comes out of their wands… their spells. The spell was green and it was going right toward Harry," Edward tried to explain.

Carlisle nodded. "You think the man tried to kill Harry as he did his parents?"

Edward agreed. "The man… must have had a vendetta against the whole family."

Carlisle stood and went to the window, staring out into the woods thoughtfully. "Is it possible, do you think, that Harry's family may have been bad people? Or were they victims?"

Edward couldn't imagine, or perhaps didn't want to imagine, Harry in the arms of people that were anything less than completely good and caring. Harry was a happy child, most of the time, so perhaps if they were bad people, they didn't show it to Harry. They loved him, Edward was sure.

Edward had heard of dark wizards that sometimes went against other wizards who didn't believe in their same ideals. Edward had contemplated the fact that maybe Harry's parents were wizards as well, which irked him terribly. Wizards, he had come to believe, were bad people. They were self-important and thought themselves superior to any other creature on the earth. Edward had heard about many vampires that were killed by wizards who deemed them to be dark creatures that needed to be exterminated.

"I think Harry's family was attacked by a wizard… perhaps because they weren't wizards. Darker wizards who think themselves superior are known for such things," Edward said, watching Rosalie and Harry. Rosalie was still listening. Alice had gone into the kitchen to get some more warm milk to help Harry sleep.

Harry still looked disturbed though, his red lips pouting and still clutching tightly onto his dog.

"How will that kind of memory affect him later on, Dad?" Alice asked, running to Harry with the milk in her hands.

Carlisle shrugged. "Psychology isn't really my forte, but I've heard of children carrying that kind of memory with them their whole lives subconsciously. If it is something that scares him, then it could pop up from time to time when he dreams, sees that particular color, if he smells something… Anything can trigger recognition if it has something to do with that night."

Esme looked heartbroken. "Nightmares?"

Carlisle nodded. The whole room was watching Harry nervously, as if afraid to let him sleep. They didn't know exactly what he saw, but at least Edward did. If Edward knew what was happening in Harry's mind… perhaps he could help him; help him forget.

Rosalie could only stare at her restless baby as he wriggled around, his arms around his stuffed dog and sipping on his milk. He had burrowed himself deep in her arms, almost like he was trying to hide from something. His eyes were flickering back and forth, almost expecting something to pop out from behind them.

Something, or rather someone, did pop out from behind them, but perhaps not who he was expecting. Jasper and Emmett came trudging in the house, looking very satisfied until they caught the severe looks of their family in the kitchen, all staring at Harry.

"What…"

"Edward… could you take Harry?" Rosalie asked. "Sing to him, please? He needs to rest."

Edward was more than happy to receive Harry from Rosalie's arms. Alice got Harry's blue blanket from the couch and tucked it around him and his dog and his cup. Edward walked outside for a moment, thinking that the darkness and the rustling of the trees might settle him. Harry always liked being outside.

Edward tuned out the conversation going on indoors as he noticed that Harry was staring at him. Lying in his arms with his dog and his cup, looking up at him as if fascinated.

Edward chuckled at him, running a hand through his tufted hair, already starting to thicken. Harry leaned into his hand, not bothered by the coldness. His eyes were still slightly red from crying. Edward gave Harry two of his fingers for him to hold onto as he softly started to sing, the green eyes still gazing tiredly up at him.

***

**TBC**

***

**AlexzAdust: **Can't answer all the questions… obviously, Rosalie will be the primary mother figure, but Esme will be around as well, because of her 'matronly nature.' Will the Cullens adopt Harry? They probably won't have to. They can just call up Jenks and have all of Harry's information made out for him, won't they. =)

**Peruser: **the Potter's were disapparated by Voldemort before he tried to kill Harry. I didn't enclose where, but it wasn't to the hospital. It took a while for people to find them and know what happened. And at some point in the Harry Potter books, they point out that when Sirius killed Pettigrew, he was blown to pieces and no body was found. I was thinking that something similar could be assumed for Harry.

**Love, Azzie. **


	4. I Disappear

**When You Say Nothing At All**

**By: azzie adams**

**AN: **I own nothing.

Thanks to my beta OccAmy Phyre! Lots of love!

I have a question that's been irking me for a while. Upon reading Twilight (I'll confess, I was basically forced to read it by a friend of mine, because I generally like vampire novels. Overall, I enjoyed the first book, and they got steadily worse by Breaking Dawn), I was lead to believe that because Stephanie Meyer wrote that vampires can't cry, don't use the bathroom, or any of that other stuff, that they can't produce bodily fluids in general. And in Breaking Dawn, it is pretty obvious that Edward can cum, to be frank, and I'll accept that, but how the hell can he have _fertile sperm_ when the rest of his body is _dead?_ It makes absolutely no sense to me. Someone enlighten me, please!

***

**Three: **I Disappear

***

It had been about two months since Rosalie had found Harry, and already he was starting to pick up some of the signs she had been teaching him. When Rosalie would make a hand gesture, Harry would copy it. It helped that everyone seemed to be more than willing to play along as far as teaching Harry.

It was getting close to Christmas time, and Alice was wasting no time in buying Harry all the Christmas apparel she could get her hands on, much to Emmett's dismay.

"_NO REINDEER CLOTHES!_ I _told_ you about the animal clothes!" Emmett cried in outrage as Alice sauntered down the stairs with Harry dressed in a brown onesie complete with antlers on his head. Emmett was horrified.

"He looks cute! You like it, don't you, Harry?" Alice asked, turning to the baby on her hip.

Harry looked from her to Emmett, and then back again. Instead of answering, he decided it would be better to just bury his face in Alice's neck.

"Look! He's mortified!" Emmett laughed triumphantly.

"I don't think he cares what he's wearing, Emmett," Jasper laughed, going to Alice to take Harry from her. He was increasingly proud of his own control, and could hold Harry for hours without even thinking of biting him. It could be said that Harry was the best thing for him at the time. His control had grown leaps and bounds since Harry's appearance in their lives.

Unfortunately, that didn't stop Emmett from teasing him mercilessly about his previous lack of control. "Unhand him, you fiend! Does he look like lunch to you?" Emmett moved closer to take Harry, and hopefully get him out of that heinous reindeer outfit.

"Will you shut up? I never get to hold him," Jasper snapped, backing up. Emmett laughed and held up his hands when Jasper let out a hiss as he approached.

"The world is coming to an end when Jasper can hold a human baby and not get hungry," Emmett sighed.

Jasper could tell that Harry was distressed over Emmett's, or his _father's_, anxiety. Emmett was easy-going enough on most occasions, but he'd fit the role of father remarkably well. Even though he had grown accustomed to letting Jasper hold the baby, uncertainty always lurked below the surface.

Jasper sent calming energy to Harry, and Harry laid his head on his shoulder. It amazed him how affected Harry was by other people's emotions. He was tempted to say that Harry could actually read them. It was outlandish to think about, but he was beginning to think that perhaps Harry was an empath.

He had observed how Harry always seemed wary of how everyone else felt before considering something for himself. Whenever someone else wanted to hold him, he would always think of the person already with him's feelings. Especially with Rosalie and Edward.

That was another thing that irked him. He couldn't understand the emotions circulating around Edward whenever Harry was concerned. He knew that Edward felt a deep connection with the baby; one that he couldn't quite pinpoint. Jasper reasoned that everyone felt draw to Harry. Even people who just saw them on the streets couldn't help but come closer, remarking on how serene, how gentle, or how lovely he was. Such comments were quickly followed by how the beauty must run in the family.

But Edward seemed to feel it most acutely.

Jasper had thought before that Edward would be indifferent to a child, because nothing else seemed to faze him in general. Before Harry, he mostly stuck in his room, listening to his music, composing, hunting, and just going about daily life with no interest in it.

But since Harry arrived, Edward was always around. He was always the first to offer to hold Harry whenever Rosalie had to hunt or otherwise, and it was always a chore for Rosalie to get him back. And whenever he wasn't holding Harry, he hovered over him, making sure he was comfortable and the like. He helped Rosalie when it was the time of day where they went about teaching him hand gestures, or singing him to sleep. Wherever Harry was, Edward was somewhere nearby.

That moment, however, Edward had gone hunting with Carlisle and Esme, but something told Jasper that as soon as he was even remotely close to full he would be back before the rest of the party was.

"What about you has made him change so much?" Jasper whispered lowly to the boy on his shoulder. Harry blinked at him with green eyes shining with curiosity, as if he genuinely wanted to know what Jasper was asking him.

"Curious little thing," Jasper smiled softly. Harry returned his smile, cuddling closer to him. "You're something special. I can't put my finger on it, but there is something about you that's… different."

He couldn't justify having such a conversation with a one-year-old, but the twinkling in Harry's eyes almost made him think that he was listening. Perhaps not understanding, but listening at least.

"Harry, baby! I'm home!!"

Harry startled wriggling in Jasper's hands, reaching for Rosalie who had just appeared at the door. Rosalie had been about all day for Christmas gifts for the child who had everything already.

"Rose, Harry's going to be the most spoiled baby in the world if you don't stop buying him all these things he doesn't need," Jasper commented, trying to keep the squirming Harry from falling out of his hands.

"Harry is perfect, Jazz. Besides, it's normal for an only-child to be pampered. I read about it in the parent's magazine. It's his first Christmas, and I intend for it to be perfect, just like Harry," Rosalie declared, immediately disappearing upstairs to hide the three large bags that she carried, putting them away before reappearing to take Harry from Jasper.

"Did you miss me? I was talking to Santa…" She started cooing at him before Emmett let out a large sigh of exasperation.

"Are we _really_ doing Santa? I can't believe this. First you dress him up like a reindeer, and now you're filling his head full of mystical magical nonsense about a fat old geezer in a red jumpsuit that falls down chimneys. On behalf of my son, who obviously can't speak for himself, I am putting a stop to thi—" He promptly shut up at the glare he was receiving from Rosalie.

***

Rosalie stomped up the stairs, her face contorted in irritation. It was _her_ time with Harry and Edward was hogging him! He'd been with Harry for a whole hour and a half and that was plenty of time, in Rosalie's humble opinion.

She knew Edward would be able to hear her, but she was still trying not to upset Harry. Jasper had often told them that Harry got upset when he didn't see a smile on everyone's face in his presence. Rosalie had to be careful to not show any irritation around him. Jasper calmed him tolerably well, but Harry hated to see anyone, especially Rosalie, angry.

She stopped outside Edward's door, listening in closely. She could hear Harry's rhythmic breathing, and figured he must have been sleeping. That wouldn't stop her from telling Edward off as quietly as possible, below Harry's hearing threshold. She cleared her throat quietly and opened the door.

She was about to start hissing censored obscenities to Edward when she found him curled around Harry on the black suede couch… sleeping?

Harry was safely tucked in the cavern of Edward's arms, fitting perfectly alongside him, and using the crook of his shoulder as a pillow. His arms were wrapped snugly around his black stuffed dog, and he was snoring softly. Edward had his eyes closed, a leg propped forward with Harry's legs cushioned on top of it.

Rosalie frowned. He couldn't possibly be sleeping. He was most likely pretending.

"He wouldn't sleep unless I closed my eyes," Edward murmured softly, hearing her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Rosalie asked, moving toward them. She couldn't help but smile at the adorable picture that Harry made. He was growing steadily, his hair growing into a thick mop atop his head. Rosalie hadn't the heart to cut it. In her opinion, it made Harry all the more angelic.

"I was trying to get him to sleep, but he just kept looking at me, like he was waiting for something. I got from his thoughts that he was probably waiting for me to fall asleep, so I closed my eyes for a while. His thoughts are fascinating…" Edward murmured softly, lightly stroking Harry's cheek, his eyes alight with adoration.

Rosalie couldn't help the spark of jealously at Edward being the one with Harry. Harry was her baby, but most days he slept with Edward. Edward didn't seem to have any qualms. There had been a few times over the past few months that Rosalie would adamantly refuse to let Harry out of her arms for fear that Edward would disappear with him again.

She knew that it was stupid. Everyone in the house gravitated toward Harry, but Edward especially seemed to take little pleasure in anything else other than playing with Harry, singing to him, listening to his thoughts, and just being around him.

"How long has he been asleep?" Rosalie asked, taking a seat beside them on the couch, reaching out stroke Harry's hair.

"Only about twenty minutes," Edward whispered, "I was singing to him before, but it was almost like he was trying to memorize the words. I kept hearing my voice replaying in his head."

Rosalie was shocked. Was that normal for children to do? Seldom did she ever hear infants doing any more with lullabies than falling asleep to them. Harry was trying to memorize them?

"He's full of surprises, isn't he?" Edward smiled, looking at Rosalie and then back to Harry.

Rosalie couldn't explain the look in Edward's eyes. She knew he cared deeply for Harry, but there was a gleam in those golden eyes that suggested more than what she had seen from Jasper or Alice. Edward looked at Harry as if he couldn't see anything else in the room.

Rosalie cleared her throat again. Edward was moving a finger that was clasped in Harry's hand, staring at him still. "It's my turn with him, you know."

"But he's sleeping. Let him rest," Edward insisted, not even looking at Rosalie.

Rosalie's lips pursed in dissatisfaction, but nodded. "You'll come and get me when he wakes up? And I mean the _second_ he wakes up, will you?"

Edward nodded, but Rosalie glared at him. She was certain that he wasn't paying her any attention.

"_Edward,"_ She hissed, catching his chin to turn his face toward her.

"_Alright,"_ he bit back, angrily, shaking her off.

Rosalie spared a look between the two, and figured that she'd better leave before she woke Harry with her anger. She tried to stomp as quietly as possible so as to not wake Harry, but firm enough to convey her anger to Edward. Harry was _her_ baby. She had rights to him before anyone else, and it enraged her to think that perhaps Edward thought himself above her authority concerning Harry.

Edward starred after his sister as she closed the door. He knew that perhaps he should have been more kind to her, considering how possessive she was of Harry, but Harry was _sleeping_, for the love of God! He checked over the infant to make sure he still slept peacefully. He noted exasperatedly that Harry's brows had converged, as though he had heard the conversation even though Edward was careful to keep his voice low.

Edward sighed as Harry's eyes popped open, and his head tilted from its resting place on his chest to look up at him, glorious green eyes bleary from sleep.

Edward chuckled as Harry blinked up at him curiously.

"What? This is your fault, you know. If you'd went to sleep when I told you to, I wouldn't be in trouble with your mom. _Again._"

He chuckled when Harry didn't even have the grace to look even slightly guilty.

Instead, all he got was a flash of an attractive woman's face, with red hair and a bright smile.

Edward was grateful that Rosalie couldn't see Harry's thoughts as he could. As authoritarian as she was, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. It was hard enough having to compete with Harry's dead biological mother for his affection, but it wasn't as though the other woman could put up much of a fight. He knew it must kill Rosalie that the baby that she named as hers was still in love with his real mother.

From what he had seen of her, she was very kind. Harry had her same soft eyes. Whenever Harry thought of her, she was always smiling. But one thing that bothered Edward was that every time he saw her, her face would get more tired, older, and stressed. He wondered if the strain of having a child wore on her after a while. But Harry was such a temperate baby. Edward couldn't imagine him making anyone weary, but then again, he had the advantage of never having to sleep.

He couldn't help but wonder if there was something else. The woman had a mystery to her, and Edward wanted to know.

Was it possible that perhaps she knew she was going to die?

Harry coughed, and sniffled quietly. Edward turned his attention back to him. He smiled as Harry rubbed his face into the fur on his stuff animal before peeking over it to stare at him again.

Edward stroked his soft cheek thoughtfully. "You had a beautiful mother. You have her eyes…" Harry blinked in reply.

"She loved you. I can tell. I'm sorry you had to lose her."

Harry's eyes fell, and started picking at the buttons on Edward's shirt. Edward wasn't sure if he was imagining things, but Harry's face seemed to have fallen. He looked… mournful.

"Rosalie loves you too, you know. I hope you won't love her any less when you grow up for not being your real mother. I think that would kill her." He stroked Harry's hair, smiling fondly as it stood straight up after each stroke. "We all love you. I know it's not the same, but it's something." He placed a kiss on Harry's forehead.

He brought his hand away, and at Harry's questioning glance, he smiled brightly in return. He pointed to himself, crossed his arms over his chest, and then touched Harry lightly on the nose.

'I love you.'

The smile Harry gave him was almost blinding.

***

Emmett chased Harry slowly through the snow-covered brush, the one-year old running as quickly as his short and wobbly legs could carry him. Emmett had taken care to dress him in something less humiliating, in his opinion. He wore a dark blue jumpsuit with a puffy red waterproof jacket over it, and a blue hat covering his mop of black hair, flattening it almost into his eyes. Overall, he looked something like a red and blue marshmallow.

"Almost gotcha, Harry! You're gonna have to do better than that!" Emmett laughed as Harry rounded the corner of the house. Emmett waited a second to let him get ahead, before jumping out around the corner.

"HA!... Harry?" Emmett frowned as he looked around. Harry was nowhere in sight. He checked the flowerbeds, searching around for the baby, but Harry had disappeared.

"Harry?" He called out again, but Harry still didn't appear. With the grass covered in inches of snow, a small blue bundle should have been very apparent. He started to panic. "Harry!"

"Emmett? What's wrong?" Edward's voice came from the back porch.

"I can't find Harry!" Emmett yelled in return, zipping around the house quickly, but to no avail. "He's plum disappeared!"

Edward's eyes widened. "You can't be serious, Em. He's only a year old. How could you lose an entire _person_?"

"I swear, Edward! I was chasing him, and he went around the corner. I waited a second to give him a head start, and when I went after him, he was gone! I checked everywhere!" Emmett looked frantic, "Is it possible for babies to disappear into thin air?"

"No," Edward said firmly, and concentrated on pinpointing Harry's thoughts. He frowned at what he saw. It seemed that Harry was contemplating a bunch of shiny black, textured… shingles?

Edward's head snapped upward. He couldn't see Harry, but he knew he was there. "He's on the roof," he murmured quickly to Emmett, before sprinting into action. He leapt onto the roof of the garage, to the overhang of the second floor balcony, and finally up to the roof. He heard a thump followed by some sniffling, and then the scent of blood. Harry must have cut himself.

An influx of protective adrenaline shot through him as he spotted Harry cradled in the crevice of the sunroof, his thumb in his mouth. He was looking curiously around himself as if wondering how he'd gotten there. Edward heard Emmett jumping up onto the roof at the other side of the house, and coming towards them quickly.

Edward was at Harry's side in seconds, whispering soothing words to the unperturbed child who even smiled upon seeing him.

"Is he okay? He's bleeding," Emmett asked, moving to Edward's side immediately, peering down at the otherwise happy baby.

"Emmett, you need to be more careful!" Edward hissed at him suddenly, and Emmett growled back.

"What do you _mean?_ He _disappeared_, Edward, or are you of the opinion that he crawled up here himself? I _am_ careful, but you tell me what I should do when he decides to hocus pocus' himself up here!" Emmett was getting wild with the hand gestures, much to Harry's fascination. But Harry couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he had done something wrong to make his parent look at Edward with such an anxious face.

Edward, for his part, had to admit that he was being stupid in overlooking the fact that Harry couldn't possibly have gotten to the roof on his own. But the moment Emmett had told him that Harry was gone, he had let himself begin to panic like he hadn't in almost… forever. He had found him quickly enough, but the thought of no one knowing where Harry was was… terrifying.

"All right! I get it!" Edward said, cutting off Emmett's ranting.

"Give me my kid, Edward," Emmett said, the angry look still on his face as he reached for the child between them. He knew that he had been careful, and he didn't want anything to happen to Harry anymore than Edward did. Probably even less so! He didn't take kindly to Edward accusing him of being careless with his boy.

Edward held Harry tighter, frowning at Emmett. "Will you relax? Let him calm down before you go about jostling him again."

"Enough! How can you say that? I don't jostle him! I barely get _any _time with him. I have to compete with Rosalie and you and Esme and Alice… He's my own kid and I feel like only see him once a day!"

"Emmett? Edward? What on earth are you doing up there?" Rosalie's voice floated up to the pair still sitting with Harry between them, fighting over him. She must have returned from hunting early.

Emmett and Edward shared a panicked look. If Rosalie found out that they had Harry on the roof, nothing could save them from the sound lashing she would give them.

"Hello?" Her voice was quickly being impatient.

"We-uh… we're fixing a hole on the roof!" Emmett called back, scowling at Edward's incredulous expression.

"Aren't you supposed to be watching Harry? I left him with you."

"I…"

"That's a trick question! I can smell him up there!" She suddenly screeched. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING BRINGING HARRY ONTO THE ROOF!!?!?!?"

Emmett wanted to run away and never come back. He had gotten called out from both his brother and his wife and he hadn't even done anything wrong.

"_Give him to me!"_ Emmett hissed at Edward once again, and this time the other boy relinquished his charge. Harry, seeing Emmett's distress, was squirming in his arms, wanting to comfort him.

The second Emmett had Harry in his grasp, he stood up, towering over Edward and walked over the uneven roof. He made it to the edge, peering down at Rosalie and with Harry clutched tightly to his chest, he jumped.

"EMMETT!!!" Rosalie snarled as she watched her husband land on his feet, and Harry completely unharmed. In fact, he looked rather thrilled at the ride. He giggled silently as Emmett placed him on his shoulder, and he buried his hands in Emmett's wild and curly hair.

"I can explain," Emmett said, feeling much more comfortable knowing that as long as Harry was with him, Rosalie couldn't pummel him to death.

"Well you'd better get started," Rosalie said, lowly, still glaring at him as if trying to kill him with her eyes.

A second later, Edward landed gracefully beside Emmett, smiling coyly at Rosalie.

"Okay, see what had happened was…" Emmett started on his tale. "We were playing, like we were when you left. I was chasing him around the house…"

"He could have fallen and gotten hurt!" Rosalie cut in, but Edward shushed her quickly, earning himself another glare. He was never Rosalie's favorite person, and he definitely wasn't earning any brownie points by silencing her.

"He was fine! People chase their kids! I read it in that stupid little parenting book, like you told me to! Anyway…" He continued his story, up until the part in which Harry mysteriously disappeared, and Rosalie's face went blank as her eyes widened.

"What do you mean _disappeared?"_ She asked suspiciously, her eyes on Harry, who was tugging on Emmett's hair while watching her with innocent eyes.

"Like… poof! Houdini-style, he was there, and then he wasn't. He became nothing. He forced the dispersion of his own molecules. Ba-da-bing, Ba-da-"

"Okay!" Rosalie ran a hand through her hair, her eyes closing in agitation.

"Rose? Are you alright?" Esme's voice came from the door on the porch, and in seconds, the rest of the family had emerged from the house.

"Am I hearing right? Harry _vanished_ and reappeared on the roof?" Jasper asked incredulously.

"I have some more metaphors if you want…" Emmett started, but Rosalie clasped a hand over his mouth.

"Enough, please."

Her mind was flashing back to the night she found Harry. The sight of the glowing green skull in the sky was making her feel sick. Wizards attacked Harry's family; of that she was sure. But she didn't know why. It was common sense that wizards, dark wizards, would attack regular humans for the fun of it. But it was lesser known that dark wizards would attack other wizards as well.

She assumed that Harry's family died because they were human. She'd heard of that green mark before. It was the work of a dark wizard. What she hadn't yet entertained was the fact that perhaps Harry's family was magical. They could have been wizards, killed off by other wizards.

"Oh Gods…" Rosalie moaned, her hands pulling her perfect blond hair from her face.

Wizards were bad. All of them were bad. They were barbarians who didn't know how to solve anything in any other way than murder and torture. She had always believed it.

Wizards could disappear as well.

She felt Edward's eyes boring into her forehead. She looked up, and saw him staring at her accusingly.

"Harry's a wizard," He announced before she could stop him.

"I don't know that!" Rosalie said, snarling at him. She knew the kind of people that wizards were. Harry wasn't, _couldn't be_, a wizard.

"Rosalie, face facts. It's more than probable. His family was killed by wizards. He can disappear into thin air and reappear somewhere else!"

"He saw Emmett chasing him, rounded the corner, and disappeared. I saw it," Alice said, looking sorrowfully at Rosalie. "Poof."

"Wizards are evil," Rosalie whispered.

"Harry's not," Jasper said forcefully, walking toward her. "He's been here for two months and I've never had one single negative feeling from him."

"I've seen his mother," Edward said, and Rosalie flinched. "She's good. I can tell she was kind. She loved him. She wasn't evil."

Rosalie pursed her lips. She felt Esme's hand on her shoulder, and had to stop herself from shaking it off. "So he disappeared…that doesn't mean he's a wizard," She shook her head in denial.

"What else could it mean? How many humans do you know that can disappear at will?" Emmett asked, and then narrowed his eyes at his own thoughtlessness. "Not that we actually know any humans intimately, but you know what I mean!" Harry pulled at his hair again for upsetting Rosalie. "Oh come on, Harry! Let me defend myself!"

Rosalie couldn't help but smile at her baby on Emmett's shoulder.

Carlisle took Harry from Emmett and settled him on his hip as he walked toward his daughter.

"Calm down, my dear. If Harry's a wizard, it doesn't change the fact that he loves you. Jasper told you so," he reasoned with Rosalie. "What we need to do is try to get more information on wizards. It could explain why Harry doesn't talk, as well, even though there is nothing physiologically keeping him from it. It would be safer to do so, especially if he starts showing more… symptoms… of being a wizard."

Rosalie sighed heavily, but she couldn't help but smile as Harry's concerned green eyes met hers.

"Rose… if Harry's a wizard, then that won't change anything. Perhaps we're wrong about them."

"All the stories we hear about them are bad, though."

"Then we'll teach Harry to be different. We'll teach him that all creatures are equal, and even though wizards discriminate against others, it's not right. He's a child, Rosalie. Children grow up with the lessons their parents teach them in mind. If all wizards are alike in their views on vampires, werewolves… then Harry will know differently."

Rosalie nodded. Harry would indeed know differently. If she had anything to do with it, Harry would definitely be different.

***

Lily Potter sighed as she stared out the window of her new rental in London. She and James needed a place to stay until they felt well enough to try and rebuild their lives again. Staying with Sirius and Remus had been sufficient enough for the two months after the attack, and it was helpful to be around friends.

She didn't know how much longer she could bear the sympathy cards though. Even after two months, the 'good' witches and wizards around the world, the Ministry of Magic, old school friends, and even old enemies wouldn't stop plaguing them with reminders of what they had lost. James had finally lost it one day and made a call to the Owl Network to reroute all the cards to Sirius and Remus, who had volunteered to take them, and then promptly burn them.

Everything from the home they had made in Godric's Hollow was destroyed. Their books, paintings, furniture, everything. But it didn't stop there. _Everything_ they had worked so hard to build was gone.

Their precious baby. Their everything. Their Harry.

Dead.

Lily's eyes were worn and tired. She believed she had cried every tear that she had in the weeks following Harry's disappearance. His death. The skin around her eyes seemed almost permanently raw from all the times that she had swiped the rough tissues across it. James was much the same. She had never seen him cry so hard. He had only ever cried at their wedding, but even then, it was only a few tears.

James had been so thrilled to have a son. Harry would have looked just like him. James had always wanted a son. When they had first learned they were having a boy, he talked for months about all the things he would teach him. He would teach him Quidditch, and all his old pranks. He would pass his Invisibility Cloak to him, and show him all the secret passages in Hogwarts. He had even started perusing the Quidditch Shop in Diagon Alley when Lily still only five months, inquiring about miniature brooms for children, and play snitches and the like. Sirius and Remus had been thrilled as well, and accompanied him on such escapades.

And Harry had been everything she had dreamed of and more. He had her eyes, and James' hair and smile. He smiled and laughed, and played all the time. He loved it when Sirius and James would change right before his eyes into the shaggy black dog and stag. He loved petting Padfoot's fur and hugging Prongs' neck.

But then, he was gone.

After all their careful planning, and Voldemort still got to him. He didn't even bother with Lily and James. He tossed them aside as mere obstacles to get to his prize.

He killed her baby. Turned him into nothing. Her beautiful, laughing son with sparkling green eyes and a shining smile.

He hadn't even left a body for them to bury.

Two months.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and her husband wrapped his arms around her from behind as she felt the tears begin to fall once again.

Would they ever be able to move on? Would they ever want to?

She felt James' heartbroken sigh on her neck, and felt the wetness begin to sink into the fabric on her shoulder.

When did living become such a chore?

***

**TBC**

***

Motherlyclucker: Perhaps. I'll think on it. I've got so much I want to do with this, it's gonna be hard to fit it all in. =) I think I had something like that in mind though.

LacuStellar: Will Harry be able to speak Parseltongue?... I don't see why he wouldn't. =)

OfSerendip: think you can do a picture of Harry in the snow? It would make my day! Lol

Rory-Halliwell Cullen: We don't know, do we? Could be a side effect of the Killing Curse. Or could it? .

**Love, Azzie. **


	5. The Boogie Man

**When You Say Nothing At All**

**By: azzie adams**

**AN:** I own nothing.

Thanks to OccAmy Phyre for doing an awesome job, once again.

First summer semester over. Second one begins in about a week. The good news is, I got straight As. The bad news: In a week I begin the hell that is Organic Chemistry. *dies* Anyways, sorry for the slow updates. I'll try to throw out as many (good) chapters as possible before I start school again.

***

**Four: **The Boogie Man

***

"I don't like this at all," Rosalie sighed with dissatisfaction.

"You knew this day would come, darling," Esme smiled softly as Emmett and Edward put together the bed in Harry's new room. It was still connected to Rosalie and Emmett's, but Rosalie was still very put out that Harry would no longer be with them in their own room.

Harry, almost six years old, was eager to see his new room that was being set up for him, but wasn't allowed until it was finished. Alice and Jasper were holding him prisoner in the living room and watching 'Beauty and the Beast' once more. It had quickly become his favorite movie.

Harry laughed silently as all the plates, saltshakers and dining accessories started singing. His head lay in Alice's lap, his legs in Jasper's while Alice's hands had weaved through Harry's black hair. It wasn't too long, but long enough that it covered his ears. Everyone was fond of it, especially Rosalie.

Rosalie frowned with arms crossed as they finished. It was weird not seeing at least subtle bars around the edges. How easy would it be for Harry to fall out and break his head?

"You knew he couldn't sleep with you forever, Rose," Edward said, brushing off the cherry wooden bed frame. Rosalie had been overly meticulous about picking out a bed for Harry. In fact, she and Harry had fought over which bed he would get. All of Rosalie's picks seemed to be too much for Harry, who insisted on a much simpler style. One that all the other boys had, he had told her. This one was larger than what she had hoped for, and she once again cursed herself for not being able to deny the six-year-old what he wanted.

Rosalie supposed it was lucky that their first disagreement had been over beds. She prided herself on how well Harry had grown. He was healthy, a good height, polite, energetic, talkative (in the only way he could be), and adventurous.

And now he was moving out of Rosalie's room and into his own. Rosalie would be lying if she said that she didn't wish he were still a baby. A baby that was content to always stay in her arms and have her read to him. She had tried to keep him a baby as long as she could, but Harry was growing quickly. Too quick, in her opinion.

He had been around four when he had started to express a wish to read himself. Rosalie spent many hours with him and had even hired a private tutor that he met with four times a week. He read books in English and had not yet moved on to German. Carlisle and Esme had said that they were not to stay much longer in Austria so there was really no point.

They had taken to celebrating Harry's birthday on Halloween, the night Rosalie found him. They figured it would be better than just making up one and at least Halloween held significance to them. Harry started his new life that day. So it was a good as any.

Harry never asked about his parents either. The few memories he had of them had faded after the three year mark. Edward saw less and less of the red-haired woman and the green streak of light. Every once in a while it would float across Harry's mind, but the little boy made no mention of it. Its presence hardly seemed to affect him at all.

They didn't know if it was good or bad, but decided that they'd better not mention it until he was older. A five-year-old wasn't nearly mature enough to grasp the fact that his parents weren't really his parents. At least not in Rosalie's opinion. Carlisle wanted to start suggesting it to him, but she wouldn't have it. She wasn't ready to talk about it. She dreaded it.

"Do humans normally age this fast?" Rosalie pondered seriously. Carlisle chuckled at her as his arm crossed her shoulders.

"I believe so, darling. Children are notorious for growing up quickly. I'd imagine that it's in their genes to do so," he teased her.

Rosalie flicked her head and listening for her baby – no, child downstairs. She heard the quick breaths that told her he was laughing. She smiled to herself. 'Beauty and the Beast'. His favorite.

She was surprised at how well she had been able to handle the possibility that her Harry was a wizard. At first she had thought it might have been a fluke, but then it surfaced again. Esme had finally taken Harry to get a haircut and in the time it had taken to get him back home, it had grown out again. The instances only increased from there. Harry could stare at a pot and bring it to a boil in seconds. When he was angry, objects would gradually start to float up and around him. And when he was very sad, a perfectly clear day could turn into a thunderstorm.

The entire family had worked together to find literature that would explain the weird things that Harry seemingly willed to happen. There wasn't much that they could get, but the few things they did weren't very promising.

They didn't trust wizards enough to approach one, but then again, they didn't know how to tell a wizard from a human either. They were notorious for being able to fit in remarkably well and there were even rumors that their towns and shopping districts and the like were shielded from non-magical people by spells.

Sanguini was a vampire. He was the catalyst for reliable information on the wizard world, as he had given one such wizard the opportunity to 'study' him. Hardly any of the information was good, and the experiences were even worse. Wizards shunned magical creatures and referred to the lot of them as 'Beings.' Vampires weren't even on the same level of human status as wizards were, and there were constant measures taken by their government to lock them all away. Wizards thought as ill of vampires as vampires thought ill of them.

That much aside, they found Harry's abilities to be endearing, and funny at time.

Emmett thought Harry's abilities were fascinating, often asking him to do things only to have Harry smile secretively at him. Harry seemed to know what he was doing, but couldn't do it on demand. In fact, his bursts of magical ability were quite sporadic. It was like he gave them time to get comfortable again before something else would happen.

He couldn't be provoked.

So the Cullens were forced to accept that it could happen anytime, anywhere and it could be anything.

They weren't comfortable with such inconsistency, but they accepted it. After all, he hadn't harmed himself or anyone else yet.

"I think we're good," Emmett declared, surveying their handy work. The cherry wood bed frame was adorned with dark blue bed sheets and Harry's stuffed dog sitting amongst the pillows. His chest of drawers sat in the corner and his nightstand and bookshelf were filled with his picture books and toys. The paint job was immaculate and Rosalie had every reason to be satisfied.

But she wasn't.

"His own room. Private tutor. Soon he's going to want to go to a public school and then what? He'll see all those normal families and then maybe want nothing to do with us anymore," Rosalie murmured, her doubts getting the better of her.

"Shut up, Rosalie," Edward snapped quietly, glaring at her.

"Don't act like you're not thinking the exact same thing," Rosalie hissed back. "We can't compare to those normal families who can eat with him and sleep and the like…"

"I'm _not_ thinking the same thing, Rose. Harry has met other humans before and he shows no preference for them over us," Edward continued, his voice getting softer. He knew Rosalie doubted her ability to be a mother to Harry, especially when other parents were around at the parks and whatnot.

"What's going on up there!?" Alice's voice rang up the stairs. "Harry's getting impatient!"

Rosalie locked eyes with Edward before turning and zipping down the stairs to Harry's side.

"I wish you wouldn't be so hard on her, Eddie," Emmett chided, taking a tentative seat on Harry's new bed, afraid he might break the small structure under his weight.

"How can she look at Harry and think he doesn't love her?" Edward crossed his arms, leaning against the wall.

"Not everyone can see into Harry's head the way you do, darling," Esme replied softly.

"And that's another thing. You could be subtler about your little abilities. You know she doesn't like it when you flaunt it," Emmett continued, bringing his legs up and lying down on the bed, still looking wary. The bed stopped right under his thighs, making his legs hang over the end. It creaked only slightly, but was otherwise sturdy.

"Who's flaunting?" Edward sighed. "I thought I was just being helpful, but Rosalie takes everything as a threat."

"He's coming!" Rosalie called and they all heard the edge in her voice. She had been listening.

Alice was at the door in a second, blocking the room from Harry's view until Rosalie was ready. Emmett hoped off the bed and stood next to Edward against the wall. Esme zipped around the room, straightening a few last minute details before slipping her arm around Carlisle with an excited smile on her face.

"Now close your eyes, honey. Don't open them until I tell you to." Rosalie's soft voice floated up the stairs. They heard the small steps of the little boy at her side. There was a stumble and then a laugh. Harry had tried to cover his eyes and walk at the same time.

Rosalie came into view with Harry in front of her. She held him up by his waist as his arms were crossed over his eyes.

"Okay, one… two… three!"

Harry's bright green eyes opened and widened as he saw his new room for the first time. A large smile broke across his face and he struggled to get out of Rosalie's arms.

Rosalie giggled, kissing his cheek as he took across the room and landed firmly atop the bed, spread eagle.

The smile on his face spoke words he couldn't say aloud.

"Do you like it?" Rosalie smiled as she sat next to him.

"It's the best." Harry signed, wrapping his arms around his mother's waist. Rosalie cuddled him as Emmett took the other side and began to poke at Harry's sides. Harry twitched and fell off the bed as his father started to tickle him.

"You're a big boy now, Ry! Get your own room and get to sleep in your own bed! You don't have mommy Rose sitting right next to you all night! Best be careful and stay in your bed or the boogie monster will get you!"

Harry's eyes widened and Emmett received a smack over the head.

"You idiot!" Rosalie hissed. "Why would you say that?"

Emmett regarded Harry's confused and slightly frightened face.

"Who's that?" Harry hands worked quickly with urgency.

"No one, Harry," Rosalie replied, still glaring at Emmett. "Nothing you need to worry about. He's not real."

"Oh, the 'Boogie Man' isn't real, but Santa is?' Emmett mumbled so Harry wouldn't hear. The only response he got was another hit in the head, this time from Alice.

Harry hugged Emmett's thigh, and asked why everyone was hitting him. Emmett ruffled the boy's hair at his noble attempt at defending him.

"S'okay, kiddo. I ask for this every time I open my mouth."

***

Harry woke up frightened. The first night in his new bed and he was rewarded with a nightmare. It had just been a flash of green and a scream, but he shivered in fear upon waking.

There was a thunderstorm outside and lightening sent streaks of light across his room as the thunder growled.

He looked around the dark room, feeling rather lonely. He had been so excited about having his own room. It was still connected to his mother and father's, but it was his own space. The kids at the playground always told him they had their own rooms. Their parents were eager to get rid of them, in that way. Rosalie always wanted to be with him.

He pulled back the covers, looking around warily as if a monster would jump out of his closet or perhaps from under his bed. His feet tentatively touched the soft carpeted floor. He grabbed his stuff dog and held him tightly. The dog matched his black night shirt and pajama pants. He shuffled to door, watching his steps and throwing glances back at the bed.

He opened the door to Rosalie's room, peering in to see if she was there. She wasn't. Normally, she would hold him or sit with him while he slept and would read or just watch over him. But she was gone and the room was vacant.

He didn't like the thought of braving the dark hallway to Edward's room but he made up his mind that if he was going to make it through the night alive, then he would have to. He clutched his dog determinedly and reached for the door to the hall.

He poked his head through the opening to make sure the coast was clear and no dark figures or towering monsters were lurking in the shadows. He walked out and closed the door softly so as not to call attention to himself if there were. He tip-toed to the door of Carlisle's dark library, peering in before scurrying past it.

That's when he heard it. There was an evil cackling laughter coming from just outside the house. It was close; probably a monster trying to force its way into the house and eat Harry. It had probably already gotten to Rosalie and Emmett who liked to sit outside and maybe even Alice and Jasper. He whimpered when he thought of what it might have done to grandpa Carlisle and grandma Esme. His only hope was that Edward had decided to stay indoors as he always did and read or listen to his music. Harry flattened himself to wall, hair standing on end and shivering with fright before deciding that he would have to make a run for it.

He ran as fast as he could down the dark hallway. Edward's room never seemed quite so far away before. He turned the corner quickly, looking behind him to see if the demon was following him, but there was nothing. He ran again, not brave enough to look back until he had made it to Edward's door.

He was just about to start banging on the door when it opened and he fell forward, right into his older brother's arms.

"Harry?" Edward asked, as Harry buried his face in his thigh, shivering uncontrollably.

He had heard Harry's echoing footsteps down the hall and his thoughts were confusing at best. For a moment, Edward thought he might have been dreaming. The way the shadows seemed to form monsters in Harry's head couldn't possibly have been real, but perhaps he was underestimating Harry's imagination. He heard Emmett laughing loudly outside about beating Jasper in a wrestling match, once again, and that's when the footsteps started beating against the floor toward his room.

He smiled affectionately down at the shaggy head of hair and the quivering small boy that held his leg for dear life.

"Did you have a nightmare, then?" He asked quietly, bending down to pick Harry up and bring him over to his couch. "Honestly, we get you a new room all to yourself and you can't even stay in it."

Harry glared at him, but then buried his face in Edward's stomach as Emmett's cackling continued.

Edward smiled, stroking his hair. "It's just your dad. Scary, isn't he?"

In truth, Emmett had dragged her away from their room to join the family outside. Otherwise she would have paced and made sure everything went smoothly with Harry for his first night sleeping alone. Emmett insisted she get some fresh air, perhaps go hunting with him to soothe her nerves.

Rosalie would kill Emmett if she knew Harry had a nightmare and she wasn't there to comfort him.

Harry looked up at him in question and Edward nodded to affirm. Harry blushed, embarrassed. He signed quickly that he thought it was someone trying to break into the house.

"As I've told you time and again, anyone would be crazy to try and break into our house," Edward chided, lifting Harry into his lap. "And you don't have to sign for me."

'_But I'm used to it!' _

Harry's voice in his thoughts wasn't was Edward expected to hear from a child. The first he'd heard Harry say 'mother' in his head, he wasn't sure if it was Harry's thoughts or someone else's. It didn't sound like a child. But then again, Harry probably didn't even know what his own voice sounded like, which made it hard for him to imagine.

When he thought, it seemed to change. It really depended on what he thought he should sound like. Sometimes it would sound like Rosalie's voice. Sometimes Alice's. Most of the time, it sounded like Carlisle's because he would read to Harry the most. Sometimes, it seemed Harry tried to make his thoughts sound like the children on the playground or in the parks.

Somewhere along the way, Harry had been able to make up his own inner voice, but it sounded nothing like what one would expect from a six-year-old. It didn't have the childish ring to it, but it didn't sound like an adult either.

It was just different.

'_Mom says I have to practice,'_ Harry thought as he signed the words, balling himself up in Edward's lap.

"Then keep your thoughts to yourself. Otherwise it may get repetitive," Edward chuckled and Harry only tilted his head.

'_What's repetitive?'_

"Never mind. You know Rosalie's going to be angry if she goes to check on you and you're not in bed."

'_It's lightening outside.'_

Edward patted the little boy's head. Harry fought his hand off valiantly before Edward pulled him into his arms once again. He held the struggling boy firmly as Harry tried to free his arms but couldn't. He settled for tilting his head up towards Edward's and scrunching up his face.

Edward laughed at the irritated green eyes that shone from just below his chin.

"Can you stay in your own bed?"

Harry spared a look outside, his eyes wide with fear and uncertainty. Edward lifted Harry up into his arms but frowned when the boy started struggling.

'_I can walk!'_

Edward missed the days when Harry enjoying being carried. His newly-acquired six-year-old independence was daunting to Rosalie the most, but Edward sorely missed when Harry like to be held all the time. Now, it was occasions like these when Harry would seek someone out for comfort or the like. Not to say that Harry didn't like being around them. He did. In fact, there was seldom a time when he wanted to be alone. He just didn't want to be held. His little black dog spent a lot of time on Harry's bed instead of in his arms, as well. Carlisle said it was all part of the growing process.

Edward didn't like it.

"Hey, you're the one who came to _me_, remember?" He said, holding tightly to the wriggling youth.

'_Can I stay here? I'll sleep, I promise!'_ Harry clung to Edward's shirt.

"What's wrong with your bed?" Edward asked, feeling much like the scolding parent. He didn't like assuming such a role, but he didn't know what else to do.

'_Nothing!' _Harry spared a look outside again. _'It's dark…'_

"You're afraid of the dark?" Harry was never afraid when he stayed with Rosalie or anyone else.

'_No!'_ Harry scrunched his face up, affronted. _'What if I have a nightmare again?'_

Edward grinned, mussing up his hair and laughing as Harry tried to throw his hand away childishly.

"Okay, I'll make you a deal. You sleep in your bed…" Edward already heard Harry begin to protest before listening to the end, "… and I'll stay with you. I'll read in the corner until you go to sleep. OK?"

Harry frowned. _'Will you sing?'_

A smile spread across Edward's face. "Of course."

'_OK!' _Harry grabbed Edward's hand and began pulling him unsuccessfully towards the door. Edward laughed as Harry's feet slid across the carpet uselessly as Edward stood perfectly still. _'No fair, rock man!' _

Edward allowed himself to be tugged down the hall to Harry's room. Harry immediately jumped into his bed, pulled the covers over himself and his stuffed dog and scooted over to one side. He patted the space he had made next to him.

Edward knew that Harry just didn't want to be alone. He'd seen the flash of green light in Harry's thoughts. That hadn't come up in a long time. He didn't know if he should talk to him about it or just ignore it. Telling him about the green light might lead to other things. Most importantly, it might lead to telling Harry that he was adopted.

Rosalie would kill him if he told before Harry was ready.

He laid tentatively beside Harry, his back only baring managing to propping his back against the headboard while Harry bundled up in his sheets.

Harry tugged at his arm impatiently for him to start. He turned to look at the young boy, and began to sing softly.

'_Edward?'_

He chuckled. "You tell me to sing and then interrupt?"

'_I have a question!'_

"I have an answer," he responded.

Harry's green eyes peered closely into his. _'Where's your mate?'_

Edward almost choked. Of all the questions he thought Harry would ask him, the location of his mate wasn't one of them.

"Why do you ask?" He wasn't expecting to have a deep conversation with a six-year-old at three in the morning, but there he was.

'_Mum says that she and Dad are mates. Alice and Jasper and Grandpa and Grandmum are mates. You're the only one who doesn't. Where is she?'_

Edward swallowed dryly. He had his theories, but they weren't something he could discuss with Harry.

He knew he had a connection with the boy. In the beginning, he'd thought that everyone felt it. But delving deeper, he figured out that it wasn't the case. He supposed he started noticing it when everyone had confronted him about it. He commandeered Harry's presence at every free moment.

But what really shook him was when Jasper took him aside one day to talk about it. Edward denied any feelings that were less than innocent towards Harry. Jasper agreed with him. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that all he thought about was Harry.

He had laid off after that. He knew Harry didn't like it. Their affection for each other was mutual, but Edward started to feel almost ashamed of himself after Jasper's accusations. He hadn't been unkind, but he did make points that Edward wasn't sure he wanted to accept.

He loved Harry. He liked spending all his time with Harry. He liked playing with Harry and singing and reading to him. Just sitting with Harry beside him while he watched Disney movies gave him contentment.

And Harry poured attention on him. Edward was a favorite, that was for sure, but Edward played that off as he was the only one with that extra time on his hands. The others had mates to lavish affection on while Edward had Harry.

Edward had Harry.

He ran a hand through his hair. Everyone always pined for Harry's attention but he gave most of it to Edward.

"I don't know," he replied, thinking it best to give the most vague answer possible. It was better than confessing that he would probably find out when Harry got older.

'_How do you know who she is?' _

Kids and their idle curiosity. "Perhaps you should sign from now on." At least then he could ignore him if he wanted to.

Harry repeated the question with his hands and Edward groaned.

"I suppose…" He really didn't feel comfortable saying it aloud, "… if you meet someone that you like spending all your time with…" He sighed as his voice started to sound like Jasper's the day he confronted him. "You like seeing them smile, you're sad whenever they're not around and all you can think about is what they're doing when you can't see them. You love them with all your heart. You'd give up your own life for them. You want to spend the rest of your life making them happy and never leave their side."

Harry blinked and snuggled further into his pillow. His black hair covered his face before he blew it away.

'_Do I have a mate?'_

Edward felt the emptiness begin to creep into him. "Everyone has a mate."

Harry sighed._ 'Can I pick them?'_

"I suppose. But really, I think fate picks them for us."

'_But I want to pick. I don't want someone else to choose for me.'_

Edward nodded, smiling wryly. "Of course you can pick for yourself."

'_Good. I pick you.' _

Edward's eyes widened.

"W-what?"

'_Are you still going to sing?'_ Harry stared at him expectantly.

"I… um…" Edward couldn't describe the feelings running through him. He knew the declarations of a six-year-old were subject to change in a matter of seconds, but just for the moment, he felt… a queasy sense of completion.

'_You promised.'_

Edward shook his head. Only Harry could say something like that and then completely change the subject.

He laid a hand on Harry's head, stroking his hair softly. Harry didn't know the implications of what he had said. To Harry, it was just a phase. After all, Harry liked having a constant companion. Edward was confident that that was all his announcement was based on. That thought was both comforting and heart-breaking at the same time.

Harry nuzzled into his hand, hugging his dog tight, and Edward took a breath to sooth his nerves before singing.

'They didn't have you where I come from

Never knew the best was yet to come

Life began when I saw your face

And I hear your laugh like a serenade

How long do you want to be loved?

Is forever enough, is forever enough?

How long do you want to be loved?

Is forever enough

Cause I'm never never giving you up…_' _

***

Dumbledore set his half-moon spectacles down on the desk, rubbing his forehead for the umpteenth time that day. Five years and not a trace.

Despite his better judgment he had kept his hope that perhaps Harry might just pop up one day. That someone would see him. That perhaps someone had taken him and hidden him and would bring him back once the smoke cleared. An old man's foolish hope that shouldn't have been given the ability to thrive. It just made the heartbreak even worse in the end.

It wasn't as if he couldn't accept it. He had accepted the death of many people who were closer to him than Lily and James' little boy. He'd only had a year with him and had hoped for the chance to watch him grow. He'd hoped that Harry would have been given the chance to live.

He'd sent out numerous search parties for the boy, hoping that he could at least put his speculations to rest if they could recover a body. A body would make it real and then perhaps he could move on.

Lily and James had. At least, to outsiders they had.

Dumbledore had been visiting and telling James that it was safe to come out of hiding at least, with the remaining Death Eaters finally behind bars and no chance of anyone trying to instigate revenge. It had been in the midst of the conversation that Lily had come trudging down the stairs, pale as death with a muggle pregnancy test in her hand.

"I can't… James… I'm not ready," she had whispered in shock, tears of disbelief starting to fall down her face. "It's too soon…"

In fact, it had been about five years since Harry's death, or disappearance as Dumbledore preferred to call it. It had vaguely occurred to him that Harry would have been almost five years old. No one would think that they were moving on too quickly, but Lily looked as though she might be sick.

But Lily refuted such an idea. In her mind, she already had one dead child. She would be damned if she killed the next one herself. Dumbledore had adamantly agreed, and James respected it. They would have a child. It was a good time to after all. Voldemort was gone, and the wizarding world had managed to put itself back together. Perhaps it was providence.

And though it was a rough nine months for the both of them, they managed to conjure up a healthy dose of cheer. James went about his fatherly duties and tended to Lily's every need. It was almost an emotional healing for him, to take care of Lily in the same way that he had before with Harry. It reminded him of what it felt like when they were happy and how they might be able to be like that again.

But what Dumbledore thought was the most touching was that they finally started to bring out the old pictures of Harry again. They wanted their new baby to see his brother all about their house and know that he was loved. James took out their family picture and placed it in the new baby's nursery a week before it was born.

And then, they started laughing again.

When Lily delivered a healthy red-headed boy, James actually laughed.

His name was Russell Aidan Potter with Lily's red-hair and James' brown eyes. They called him Russ. Born December 15, 1983. About three years ago.

He was a loud little boy. Harry had been very temperate but Russell was what everyone expected of a baby. He cried loudly, he seldom slept, he had to eat every twenty minutes and couldn't stand being away from his mother for any extended amount of time.

But they loved him as dearly as they loved Harry and Dumbledore liked him well. There was never the connection he had felt with Harry. Harry's gentle nature and quite moodiness were a marvel and whenever their eyes met, it was like Harry could see straight into his soul.

Sirius and Remus were immensely pleased with Russ. They coddled him and volunteered to watch him whenever Lily and James needed a break. Sirius and James were constantly insisting that Russell would be quite the handful once he reached Hogwarts.

He sighed, cleaning his glasses again before placing them back on his face. Speaking of which, the beginning of the school year was almost upon them. It was one of his few pleasures. The promise of the future was all that kept him from living in the past.

***

**TBC**

***

Harry's lullaby is called 'Lullaby' by the Dixie Chicks

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews!

**Love, Azzie. **


	6. Angry Angel

**When You Say Nothing At All**

**By: azzie adams**

**AN:** I own nothing.

**Quick Note: **The sound system I imagine Edward having around this time probably the multi-layered system, with volume control (fade, bass, treble, etc), with CD/cassett player, and all the other stuff.

Thank you OccAmy Phyre for helping me with editing, once again! =)

***

**Five: Angry Angel**

***

Edward had been a nervous wreck throughout the night. He didn't want to leave Harry, but he knew what he was feeling wasn't right. Harry's assumption of what mates were was purely innocent. His feelings in response weren't.

Was it wrong that he wanted to stay with Harry the entire night, just watching that beautiful face that would be blissfully unaware? Was it so bad that he never wanted to leave the little boy's side, to be there, protect him and hold him close through all of his nightmares?

It certainly seemed honorable, but Edward knew there had to be something wrong with it. He knew that his thoughts may have been innocent enough at present, but what about when Harry got older? Would his desires mature as Harry would?

Rosalie would throttle him. Hell, he might just save her the trouble and throttle himself. Lord knew he was punishing himself enough for just wanting to be so close to Harry.

Mates? God forbid. Yet he couldn't make the butterflies in his stomach go away. He couldn't stop from entertaining the thought of what Harry would be like when he grew up. There was so much that they could tell him that could upset him, make him want to be away from them.

First of all, he was an orphan. As much as Rosalie had been for it in the beginning, the more he grew, the more she wanted him to think that he had never belonged to anyone but her. Second of all, he was a human living with vampires. Of course Harry knew certain things about his family were different from others. He had noticed that they didn't eat and had asked questions. All of his questions were answered as truthfully as possible.

Edward was beginning to wonder if it might have been easier to let Harry grow up with the wizards.

Easier? Yes. Desirable? No.

Harry snuggled closer to his side, smacking his lips together much like he did when he was a baby. Edward stroked the boy's arm that was wrapped lazily around his abdomen. He shifted a bit, looking at Harry.

He heard the door opening downstairs and could tell it was Rosalie's footsteps making her way up to check on Harry.

Edward wanted nothing more than to prevent a confrontation, so he unwrapped Harry's arm from his waist, pulling the covers over him before he slipped out of the room and down the hall, trying to be as quite as possible.

Rosalie opened the door to Harry's room, finding him sleeping peacefully. She smiled and placed a kiss on his forehead before going to her room. Emmett had all but forced her out of the house to allow Harry some time to get used to his room. She had thought that he might have problems falling asleep, but he seemed be fine.

It was five years that they had been in Austria and Rosalie knew that Carlisle was beginning to consider other places to move. Rosalie knew that he was thinking about Alaska to pay a visit to the Denali coven. Tanya, Kate and Irina had expressed a wish to meet Harry, and Carmen was eager as well.

Rosalie wasn't quite as eager to have so many other people to share Harry with, but at the same time she did appreciate the chance to show her baby off.

Rosalie heard Emmett and Jasper rolling around on the ground outside in their wrestling rematch. She rolled her eyes and winced as she heard the familiar clash of their bodies like thunder. She went back downstairs, determined to tell them off for making such noise when Harry was trying to sleep.

In his room, Edward stood at the window, his hands clenched tightly.

Rosalie was going to murder him. Either that or she would castrate him before he could lay a less than innocent hand on her precious baby.

He shuddered, disgusted with himself for even thinking about it.

He pressed his hands to the glass, eyes closed in contemplation. All he could see was Harry's innocent green eyes peering back at him. He shook his head. He couldn't do that. He cared too much about the boy to allow himself to be selfish and keep him all to himself. He was just a child, after all. Edward would be a fool to take him at his word.

But as he decided, he knew he wouldn't be able to stand being so close to Harry, knowing that he couldn't allow himself to be anything more than the uncle he was supposed to be. The wiles of a six-year-old were broad and constantly changing. Before, Edward might have been able to live with that. But those words kept echoing in his head.

'_I pick you.' _

He growled at himself. The boy wanted him, but was too young to even know what that meant.

***

Rosalie noticed something weird going on with Edward almost immediately. Whenever Harry appeared in a room, Edward would make himself scarce. He wasn't nearly as affectionate with Harry as he usually was. Rosalie had learned to accept the fact that Edward had a special bond with her baby and Harry loved him unconditionally. She had her doubts at first, but she couldn't deny Harry anything.

But she could see the confused look in Harry's eyes whenever he would ask Edward to play with him and Edward would be too busy. Edward never turned Harry down, almost as if it was his God-given duty to please the boy.

Truth be told, she was upset. Extremely upset. Seeing the crestfallen look on her baby's face whenever Edward refused him made her irrevocably angry at Edward. She had been forced to cope with sharing Harry with the rest of her family, mostly Edward, and then he went and snubbed Harry whenever the boy wanted his attention.

Harry was still a child though, and while Edward's lack of interest in him hurt, he was still able to enjoy himself with Emmett and Jasper and Alice. For the hours he spent with them, he seemed to forget Edward, but when the bronze-haired vampire made an appearance again it was clear that Harry mourned the loss of his playmate.

Rosalie frowned as Harry fidgeted once more as she trimmed his hair at the kitchen table, looking glum. "Harry, is there something wrong?" she asked gently.

The black tuft of hair shook quickly as Harry stared at his fingers, his eyes flickering towards the door every few seconds. Edward and Alice were supposed to be back from shopping soon and he was hoping Edward would take him to the park, or perhaps running through the woods.

Rosalie had been meditating about Harry's powers, especially since the incidents seemed to occur more frequently since Edward had removed himself from Harry's life. Harry was more angry, anxious and sad that he had ever been, his moods going from good to bad in mere seconds. As such, he was loosing control of his magic more often than not. Rosalie had contacted Sanguini, the only vampire known for his connection with the wizarding world, hoping for some answers. He had suggested paying a visit to London. It was the central hub for most of the information on wizards, and he had even promised to let her meet a wizard friend of his. One of the nicer ones, according to him.

Rosalie didn't know what to do, but it seemed to be the best option if she was ever going to find out exactly what she was getting into, raising Harry. Carlisle even suggested that it might be able to clear up a few rumors about wizards, particularly the bad ones.

It seemed settled, but Rosalie was reluctant to leave Harry. Especially when she knew Edward was likely to do something else to hurt him while she was away and therefore be spared her rants and glares for once.

The door suddenly opened and Harry's head popped up hopefully.

Alice came through with bags upon bags of merchandise and Edward followed up with even more. They were laughing about something, but abruptly stopped when they saw the murderous look Rosalie was giving them, or more specifically, Edward. That seemed to be the predominant expression for Rosalie whenever Edward was in the vicinity.

Alice nervously plastered a smile on her face, and bounced toward Harry, holding some pieces of paper in her hands.

"Guess what, Ry? We got some tickets to the play tomorrow night! Aren't you excited? Everyone dressed up in costumes. You'll love it!" Alice said excitedly, and a bright smile spread across Harry's face. "The bad news is, you have to dress up in this wonderful tuxedo I bought you." She laughed as Harry's face fell.

Rosalie glare never wavered as Harry and Alice argued over his apparel for the following evening and Edward set the bags gently down.

Rosalie finished Harry's hair as Alice tried to position a bow-tie around his neck to check for length as Harry struggled beneath her hands, ultimately running away from her to hide behind Edward. Harry looked up in concern as Edward stiffened as he felt Harry's face bury into his hip.

Edward sighed regretfully as he felt Harry's arms drop in response to his snub and felt even worse when Harry moved away from him.

'_Do you want to go to the park with me?' _

Edward hated how timid Harry sounded, but it was what his relationship with Harry had turned into lately. He wanted to take Harry to the park. He wanted to play with him and drive him around in the convertible with the top down just so he could see Harry's hair go completely wild. He wanted to play the piano with Harry beside him and watching him in fascination at how fast his fingers moved.

But he couldn't.

He moved away from Harry, wincing as he felt Harry's hurt. But it had to be this way. At least for a little while until he got a grip on what the relationship was, or could be. For the moment, he had to stay away from him. For every second he spent with Harry, the more the idea of Harry being something more crept into his head and it showed no indication of leaving.

***

Harry watched Edward take off into the forest with his mother, father, Jasper, and Alice. Carlisle was at work and Esme was painting downstairs.

Try as he might, he couldn't think of what he had done to earn himself the coldness that Edward had displayed toward him over the past week. Edward never spoke harshly or gave him any indication that he was mad at him. The coldness was in his manners. Harry could feel it radiating off of him and he didn't like it.

His best friend had abandoned him.

He heard Esme humming to herself from the living room below. He listened to the sound of her voice and smiled to himself. Her voice was beautiful, but Edward's was majestic.

As soon as Harry deduced that Edward and the others wouldn't be back for a while, he made his way to Edward's room. Normally, it would only take thirty minutes or so for Edward and Rosalie to return. Harry wasn't deaf; he had heard his uncles talking amongst themselves about how Edward was always in a rush to get back to him. It made him glad, but it also confused him. Edward took his time these days, spending hours away from the house and even more hours away from him. Once again, Harry failed to see anything he could have done to upset Edward. He hated it when anyone in the family was upset with him.

But that had been almost two weeks ago. Harry's hurt had disintegrated since then, turning into something decidedly less innocent. He was angry at his friend for leaving him, choosing to occupy his time with his music and ignoring Harry completely. Whenever Harry would ask for him to sing to him, he would insist he was too busy and distracted to entertain him. He didn't play with Harry anymore. He all but ignored him. Harry wasn't used to being outwardly ignored. He decided that he didn't like it at all and set about making his presence known in the most explosive way possible. Much was the psyche of a bitter six-year-old boy.

He gently opened the door to the room and peered inside.

He had slept with Edward many times, with the taller boy at his side, singing softly to him or playing music for him as he rocked him to sleep and kept all the bad dreams away.

Harry marveled at the large sound system and rows upon rows of music.

He locked the door, and walked the length of the wall staring at all the titles, easily picking out Edward's favorites. He avoided those completely, instead choosing the ones he knew Edward didn't care much for.

As hurt as he was from Edward's indifference, he had deduced that perhaps Edward didn't want to be his mate. It was the last thing Harry had said to him before the cold shoulder Edward gave him the next day.

Being only six years old, Harry was not willing to accept it and instead threw himself into getting Edward's attention no matter what it took. A dull ache of guilt began to infiltrate his heart but it was won over by bitterness at being thrown aside so carelessly.

He brought a footstool to stand on and opened the cassette player, placing the disc inside and closing it. He braced himself before turning the speakers all the way up, and running to the other side of the room.

He didn't know much about electronics, but he knew the second the speakers blew out and the boxes that used to play such beautiful music to him at night began to thud obnoxiously and completely butcher the music Edward loved so much. Loved it more then he loved Harry, he supposed.

Harry took Edward's favorite composers, Debussy, Bach, Mozart, Wolff, and smashed them to the floor, the tapes breaking inside their cases as he jumped on them, the horrible music shaking the walls around him. He looked up, and saw the large stereo system sitting in pristine condition, stacking higher than Harry would be able to reach, even from the footstool.

He heard Esme knocking on the door and some muffled words. The music was too loud. His head was beginning to hurt, but he wasn't done yet. The doorknob was beginning to jiggle.

He wrapped his arms around the bottom audio control and began to pull as hard as he could. He was barely getting it to budge, so he aimed higher. The cassette player at the top was the largest and Harry knew Edward would be most angry about that. He had to get rid of it. He stood on the tips of his toes as he grabbed it and pulled. It was significantly lighter than the others and in seconds Harry had sent the box to the ground, watching it come unplugged from the wall and pieces breaking off of it as it hit the floor.

He felt a rush of adrenaline run through him and he stared angrily at the audio control that still sat magnificently atop the shelf. He felt the magic, as his mother often called it, welling up inside of him. He watched in wonder as the box seemed to lift itself slowly into the air before panicking and trying to get it to go back down. He knew he scared his family when he couldn't control the magic and that wasn't what he wanted to do. He whimpered inaudibly as the audio control still lifted, until it was hovering unsteadily above his head. He jumped back as he lost control and the box fell heavily to the ground, shattering upon impact. Harry fell to the ground, exhausted and stared at the mess in horror.

The knocking on the door was more like a banging now and Harry knew what was coming, but he couldn't help the sense of justice etching into his mind. Edward had hurt him, made him feel like he was nothing, so Harry destroyed what Edward replaced him with. It only made sense.

The door suddenly burst open and Esme stood at the threshold, looking for all the world like she expected to see Harry dead on the floor for all the racket.

Esme looked on in shock, the violent music only adding to the effect of seeing Harry standing guiltily amongst the remnants of Edward's beloved stereo system. She saw the broken tapes on the ground, the shattered cassette player, the horrible blown out speakers, and Harry. Sweet, quiet, perfect little Harry standing amongst it, his head down as if awaiting his punishment.

"Harry…? What… why…?"

Harry didn't say anything. Esme found it hard to be angry at him with his black fringe falling into his large green eyes that stared at the floor, knowing he had just done something dreadful.

"Harry?" Esme came closer, placing her hands on his small shoulders and kneeling down to his level. "Harry, why did you do this? You ruined Edward's things!" She had never been in a situation where she had to scold a child before, so she didn't know exactly how to handle it.

Harry brought his eyes up to meet Esme's, his red lips set in a pout. Esme could hear his heart beating rapidly and could see the hurt and anger hidden in his eyes. She knew how Edward had treated him over the past couple of weeks. She could guess why Harry destroyed Edward's sound system. She felt for the boy and knew he was just trying to get Edward's attention.

But she couldn't condone what he had done either.

She patted is shoulders, not knowing for sure what to do. Harry was a joy, most of the time, and it was the first time he had ever done something that would warrant punishment.

"Harry," she sighed. "I want you to go to your room and think about what you did. When Rosalie gets back, she'll decide what your punishment will be." Harry nodded, and moved from under Esme's hands and started slowly out the door of the room, his feet kicking the pieces of Edward's tapes bitterly. Esme frowned.

"Harry?"

Harry turned to her again. "I don't know what your punishment will be, but either way, you are going to have to apologize to Edward."

Harry's eyes widened and he shook his head in denial. His face scrunched into an angry scowl, one that Esme had never seen before. Despite her shock, she nodded to him. "Harry… he's your uncle. You must apologize. In fact, I'll send him up to you the second he gets home."

Harry shook his head again, signaling 'no' with his hands.

Esme didn't like having to be harsh with Harry, but she gave him a stern glare anyway. "You _will_ say you're sorry, Harrison Cullen. Now go to your room and figure out what you'll say to Edward when he gets here."

Harry turned his eyes to the ground and dragged his feet down the hall. Esme felt for him. She knew it was natural to act out when ignored, but she wasn't his mother. Rosalie was. Rosalie would find a way to handle it and, for some reason, Esme knew it probably would include less of a punishment for Harry and more so for Edward.

***

Rosalie was the first back to the house. She was looking forward to taking Harry to the theater that night, for he had never been. Emmett ran with her with Alice, Jasper, and Edward tagging slightly behind them.

She opened the door to the house, calling Harry's name excitedly until she saw Esme and Carlisle sitting at the kitchen table, discussing something quietly and somberly. They both looked up as she and Emmett entered and Rosalie was immediately concerned for Harry.

"Where's Harry?" she asked. It was weird for Harry to be out of sight when Esme and Carlisle were both home. Harry usually sat with them, watching Esme paint or listening to Carlisle talk about his day at the hospital and asking questions.

Esme's eyes flickered up the stairs, before coming back to rest on Rosalie. "Harry did something today and we're not sure how to handle it."

Rosalie visibly relaxed, a fond smile working its way onto her lips. "Did he turn one of your antique table lamps into a dove again?"

"He destroyed Edward's sound system," Esme blurted, unable to contain her own astonishment any longer.

Emmett's jaw fell open, while Rosalie only blinked, swallowing loudly. She immediately wanted to be at Harry's side. No doubt Esme had taken it upon herself to punishment him until she returned to deal with it. "Where is he?"

"In his room." Carlisle stood and approached Rosalie, taking one of her hands in his.

"I know you've never had to punish him before, darling…" He seemed to be addressing both her and Emmett. Emmett still looked too shocked to speak. His baby? Destroyed Edward's sound system? How many countless times had Edward entertained him with the music from that system? It seemed highly improbable and somewhat laughable, even to Emmett.

"He must have had a good reason," Rosalie defended him.

"It doesn't matter what his reasons were, darling. It was wrong. He can't do this every time he has a good reason to," Carlisle said.

Rosalie looked at Emmett, silently asking for his opinion.

Emmett ran a hand through his curly hair. He knew as well as anyone that Edward had been less than friendly toward Harry recently and knew that it was probably the reason Harry snapped. In Emmett's opinion, Edward deserved as much of a punishment as Harry did. He voiced his opinion to the family and Rosalie nodded. Her lips were pursed tightly and was already planning a show down with Edward as soon as he decided to grace them with his presence.

As if on cue, the trees broke around the three forms of Alice, Jasper, and Edward as they ran towards the house, appearing at the back door in seconds.

Esme gave Rosalie a look that said '_you_ tell him.'

Rosalie rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms as Edward took a seat next to Esme, ruffling Alice's hair fondly over some private joke before being pinned under Rosalie's accusatory stare.

Edward pursed his lips. "Rosalie, will you _quit_ staring at me like that. I've been walking on eggshells around you for _two weeks!_" Then something in Esme's head caught his attention. It looked suspiciously like his prized sound system in pieces on his floor.

He stood up immediately. "My sound system!?" he cried, about to jet up to his room to see if it was true.

"Harry broke it, Edward. I sent him to his room, but I think you should talk to him first…" Esme's words were drowned out as the image of Harry standing in his room, with the remnants of his amps on the floor before him. His eyes were bitter and angry and Edward felt his heart wrench. Suddenly, the fact that his beloved electronics were in ruins wasn't so disturbing anymore.

"Harry did that?" he asked, almost to himself. Was Harry that angry at him?

Edward was shocked as Rosalie pressed him firmly up against the wall, her face very close to his.

"Listen to me, Edward. _I don't like this._ I don't like having to do this, but for whatever reason, Harry is not happy unless everyone around him is happy. Furthermore, you're upsetting him with your constant absence, and I swear on everything I hold dear to me, if you continue to hurt him, I _will_ hurt you." The intensity in Rosalie's eyes was extremely disconcerting, even for her.

"I'm telling you now that I'm holding you _personally_ responsible for his happiness and well being. You are going to drop whatever _funk_ you're in, because not only is the entire family concerned, but you're _hurting_ Harry. I will _not_ have that, least of all from _you._"

Rosalie finished her declaration, shoving Edward farther into the wall before dropping his shirt and stomping off to Harry's room to check on him before Edward went to speak with him.

Edward looked up to see Emmett standing in front of him, his arms crossed and a thoughtful look on his face.

Edward ran a hand through his hair irritably. "I suppose you're going to yell at me too?"

"Nah. I think Rose covered it," Emmett replied, his lips contorted in a frown. "What I don't get is what triggered this, man. You love spending time with Harry, and now you treat him as if he's some kind of a burden. He's my son, and he loves you. Have some remorse, for crying out loud."

Edward looked at his brother, and sighed. "He wants me to be his mate. He told me the first night when he slept in his own bed. He had a nightmare so I stayed with him until he fell asleep."

"That's it? He's _six_. He's got a good chance of asking some girl he meets in the park tomorrow to be his mate."

Edward didn't know whether to feel better or worse.

***

Edward knocked gently on Harry's door. There was no answer. He steeled himself before opening the door, amazed at how nervous he was for a confrontation with a six-year-old. He looked inside to see the lights off and everything still. He was sure that Harry was there because he could smell him. He looked at the bed, atop which a very suspicious looking bundle of blankets rested.

He shut the door even though he knew everyone would be listening downstairs. Rosalie had probably crept as close to the door as possible without being detected to make sure he didn't make Harry even more upset.

He approached nervously, hearing Harry's heartbeat speed up as he got closer. He frowned. Had he upset Harry that much that he couldn't even be near him without freaking?

He hesitantly took a seat on the side of Harry's bed, placing an icy hand on the blankets, poking it softly. There was a slight twitch and the bundle moved away from him.

"Harry," he murmured, pulling the blankets off the boy. His heart clenched as he saw Harry curled in the fetal position, staring determinedly anywhere but Edward. There was a slight flush on his cheeks and he had bed hair.

Edward brought a hand to Harry's hair and flinched as he moved away stubbornly. He took a breath, more for Harry's benefit than his own.

"I'm sorry."

Harry's head twitched as he moved his face away from his pillow. Edward tilted his head as he caught sight of Harry's eyes. They were bloodshot and Edward quickly deduced that he'd been crying. His Harry had been crying.

He laid down beside the boy, pulling him close to him and not caring about the ramifications. All his hard work to make Harry less attached to him would go to ruin, but he couldn't think about it. He had hurt Harry enough. He could give him this.

Harry stiffened for only a second before letting Edward pull him to his chest, resting his chin on his unruly mop of hair. Edward had hardly so much as spoken to him in a while, so he was almost hungry for any sort of affection the older boy would give him. He tucked his head against Edward's collarbone, smiling tiredly. He had been prepared for Edward to be angry at him, perhaps declaring that he hated him and would never speak to him again. He hadn't expected that he'd crawl into bed with him and apologize. Harry still didn't know what he was apologizing for.

'_Why are _you_sorry?'_ he thought, and smiled as Edward ran a hand through his hair, soothing his heated skin.

Edward shook his head. Never in a million year did he think he would apologize for being himself. But the hurt looks that he had been collecting for two weeks were running through his head and he realized just how much he had to apologize for.

When he refused to help Harry pick a pair of shoes to wear to the cinema. When he ignored Harry when he had seated himself beside him at the piano, not paying the boy any attention at all. When he conveniently forgot he was going to help Harry with his baseball swing. Everything.

'_I'm sorry…'_ Harry apparently had taken his silence as a request for him to reciprocate.

Edward drew Harry's face away from his chest, stroking his flushed cheeks affectionately.

"Don't be sorry." He realized that this was the most he had spoken to Harry in weeks.

'_But I broke your…' _Edward cut him off.

"I can buy a new one. I've been meaning to, anyway."

Harry frowned. Surely he was at least a little upset? Harry destroyed his things in anger and he was apologizing to him?

Then Harry remembered all the things that Edward had done to him, or _not_ done to him, that had made him do what he did. He withdrew a little, making sure that he had Edward's attention for once.

'_What did I do?'_

Edward's heart broke. "You didn't do anything. It was me."

'_You don't like me anymore…'_

Edward pressed a finger to Harry's lips. "Shut up." Harry narrowed his eyes, but stopped when he saw the laughter in Edward's eyes. "Of course I like you. _I love you_. Didn't I tell you I would always love you, no matter what?"

'_Then why…'_

Edward didn't know how to respond. He could tell Harry the truth, but what were the chances that he would understand?

'_You don't want to be mates anymore?' _Edward's eyes widened as Harry's lowered sadly. '_We don't have to be mates anymore if you don't want to.'_

Edward knew instantly that that was the last thing he wanted. How did one tell a six-year-old that he _did_ want to be his mate and expect him to know what that meant?

But he could be what Harry thought a mate was, couldn't he? He could be the one that Harry wanted to spend time with. All Edward knew was that he didn't want Harry to hurt anymore. So for once, he could be everything that Harry wanted him to be, even if he didn't feel the same way when he grew up. Harry might outgrow his want of Edward's attention, but for the moment, Edward could give him what he wanted. He could give him all of himself.

Edward pushed Harry's bangs back and kissed the lightening bolt scar that adorned his forehead. "I want to be your mate, Harry. I never not wanted to be your mate." He pressed his forehead to Harry's, delighting in the happy smile he had missed so much. "But do you think you can deal me? I can be _quite_ a needy mate," he teased.

Harry nodded quickly, giving him a wide and toothy grin. '_I can deal with you.'_ He placed a kiss on Edward's cheek in confirmation.

Edward held Harry closely, feeling the almost electric flow of magic under Harry's skin.

***

**TBC**

***

You would not _believe_ the amount of effort it took to finish this chapter! I really need to get some motivation, STAT! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews!! Sorry you had to go so far as to message me to make me work harder.

**Teaser:** Rosalie makes a trip to London in order to find out more about Harry's magical abilities and with the help of the vampire Sanguini, finds herself smack dab in the middle of a magical shopping district called Diagon Alley. And who does she meet? Give you three guesses and the first two don't count.

**Love, Azzie. **


	7. Into Diagon Alley

**When you Say nothing at all**

**By: azzie adams**

**AN**: I own nothing.

**Six: Into Diagon Alley  
**

Seven-year-old Harrison Cullen sat on the couch as he watched his mother zip around the room, picking up clothes, shoes, make-up, and everything else she could possibly need for her journey. He frowned deeply, not wanting her to leave. She had never left him for any extended amount of time, and he wasn't happy about it.

He signed dejectedly, 'Do you _have_ to go? Dad is finally gonna let me play baseball this weekend…'

Rosalie hadn't yet disclosed her reasons for leaving to Harry as she had to the rest of the family for obvious reasons. She wasn't ready for Harry to think of her as anything less than his real mother. She didn't know if her heart could take him not loving her anymore simply because she wasn't his birth mother.

She had decided to take a chance and go back to London. She didn't know when they would be back in the area, and with Harry's magic seeming to mature with his body, she figured that it would be wise to learn as much as she could on the subject. Sanguini had informed her of a wizarding marketplace with everything magical she would ever need to know about. Being a magical creature, Sanguini had said, she would have no problem gaining access to Diagon Alley. But just in case, he had volunteered his services along with a friend.

Rosalie smiled affectionately at her little boy, ruffling his hair much to his dismay. "It's only for a few days, darling. Just preparing to move to Alaska, we need to get a few things taken care of."

'Can't I go with you?'

Rosalie was touched, but alas, this was one trip that she would have to make on her own.

"I'm sure you will deal just fine without me, my darling. You'll have Edward, after all."

'Edward's not you…' Harry pouted.

Rosalie felt her heart swell. She just liked Harry reiterating to her that she always came first. "You'll have fun I promise, and we'll have plenty of time together when I return."

Emmett entered the room and smiled, whispering to Harry. "You'll have a good time. I'll let you drink the fizzy water with all the sugar in it."

Harry's eyes lit up.

Rosalie frowned. "Don't think I don't hear you. You'll regret it when he refuses to go to sleep tonight."

Emmett spit his tongue out. "Luckily, I never tire! I am a vampire you know."

Rosalie swept Harry into her arms, kissing his forehead. "You be good, OK? I'll bring you plenty of treats."

Rosalie's lips curled in distaste as she surveyed the teaming streets of London. She clutched a piece of paper in the pocket of her tight fitting pants.

Sanguini had given her instructions on what to expect when she finally arrived in London, where to go, and what to keep an eye out for. She had looked it over on the plane the previous day. She felt thoroughly ridiculous in the cape she had been forced to purchase as per Sanguini's suggestion. She wanted to blend in as much as possible. The day was overcast and humid, and there was plenty of cloud cover to last many hours and provide plenty of time for her to observe.

It hurt her deeply to have to leave Harry, but she had to do this for herself. She had to know what she was getting herself into in raising him. According to Sanguini, sooner or later, Harry would be forced to rejoin the wizarding world, whether she liked it or not. Harry would want answers as to why he could do all the things that she and the rest of the Cullens couldn't.

Carlisle had told her that this kind of preparation was favorable, and even said that he would accompany her if she wished.

She didn't. She had been rash about taking Harry with her, and she didn't need Carlisle criticizing her about it anymore than she did to herself.

She drew a few stares under her hood, but she saw a few others wearing similar apparel. She looked at the paper that Sanguini gave her.

'_Look for the pub called The Leaky Cauldron. It is hidden from muggles, or unmagical people, but you will be able to see it. Pay attention to the conversations around you. If they concern odd words or about anything magical, follow them. You won't be the only person looking for it.'_

She looked up just in time to see an inconspicuous couple duck into a dark seedy looking pub off the side of the street. A dingy sign hung above the establishment, covered in grim and she noted in exasperation that it read 'The Leaky Cauldron.' Lord knew she would rather go a week without make-up than walk inside, but if she was ever going to get the answers she needed…

She moved inside the pub, wiping her hands on the cloak as the grime from the doorknob as she did so. '_Are all wizard stores hovels?' _She sneered when a few people turned to look her way as she entered, and she pulled the hood ever farther over her face. A man at the bar looked up at her, squinted, and then asked in rather barbaric accent if she cared for a drink.

She nodded him off, continuing through the pub. Whispers followed her as she briefly moved her hood back to observe more closely the magic folk around her. She caught a man calling her a 'Veela', and she wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad one. She decided to ignore it, having caught sight of the back door.

As she opened it, she spotted her guide.

Sanguini was a tall man, wearing entirely black clothing and shoulder-length black hair. He had a bulbous nose but on his face it looked very dignified. His eyes were dark, but she was sure they were red. If she considered the fact that he spent a lot of time around wizards, she couldn't blame him for keeping a human blood diet. He didn't smile upon seeing her, but nodded his head in recognition.

"Rosalie Cullen?"

"Sanguini. What is the meaning of having us meet in an alleyway like this?"

"This is the entrance to the wizarding world, love." His voice was low and… British.

"Pull your hood up, love. People will think you're a Veela."

Rosalie let the comment pass again, figuring that once she got the information she needed, it wouldn't be a problem.

Sanguini turned her attention to the other man standing slightly to his right who, it seemed, had gone completely dead in the head upon her entrance. Rosalie took one look at him and then narrowed her eyes. Sanguini had not mentioned that his friend was in fact a wizard.

"Eldred Worple, this is Rosalie Cullen. Ms. Cullen, this is perhaps the only wizard in the world that seems to think that vampires are even partially human."

"He exaggerates, of course!" Worple laughed, but Rosalie was almost certain that anything Sanguini said was likely to be true. After all, Worple was a wizard. What could he possibly know about how wizards actually treated vampires when he wasn't babysitting his friend? "Wizards can be simple-minded, but we are working to broaden their view of magical creatures, aren't we, Sanguini?" Sanguini answered with a roll of his eyes.

"Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Ms. Rosalie! What a lovely young lady you are. I hear that you have been raising a wizard?"

Rosalie glared at Sanguini, who didn't appear to notice. Worple continued. "I must say, it is a dangerous business to be raising one who is not of your kind, my dear. I once had to interview a vampire who had put herself in permanent seclusion after killing a human baby she had intended to raise. Simply horrible."

Before Rosalie could attempt to bite his head off, Sanguini cut in.

"Rosalie and her family are unique in their lifestyle, Eldred. They only feed from animals. They've all developed something of a tolerance for human blood," Sanguini said, distastefully.

"Is that so?" Eldred peered closely at her through his thick spectacles. "How strange! How interesting! I write books about vampires in order to make wizards more tolerant of them! This is a spectacular development!" He approached her, oblivious to her shrinking away from him. "Would you allow me to interview your family? You have no idea what a difference it could make if wizards knew that vampires make such an effort to preserve human life!"

Rosalie wanted to refuse. If Worple interviewed them, he might catch a glimpse of Harry. Of course, there was no way for him to know who Harry was, really. Just another wizard baby. But she wanted to be prepared, and perhaps this man could give her some useful information about wizard children that Sanguini wouldn't know, and any other wizard wouldn't tell her.

"I will give it a thought," Rosalie said, and Worple gave a delighted squeak and pulled out a notebook to begin scribbling away. "But while I think on it, we should probably get going. I don't have much time, you see." Barely a day and she was already homesick for Harry.

Sanguini finally cut in. "I agree."

"Of course. I will lend you the money you need so we need not stop at Gringotts. After all, we are going to be working together soon!" Worple cried, and quickly pulled a long thin stick out of his flowing robes. He began to tap on the bricks of the wall that enclosed them behind the pub. "Of course, I had having to deal with goblins. I believe in tolerance of magical creatures, but goblins are a bully to deal with. I'll not put you through such inconvenience."

Rosalie watched him, wondering if perhaps he was mad as he stared at the wall expectantly.

She watched in horror as the bricks began to rumble and move away, creating a small opening in the middle. Sanguini held a hand to her, and she was led through the opening.

Lily was stressed. Her freshly washed hair was in a muss from her hands raking through it every thirty seconds. December 1st, and both Russell's birthday and Christmas were coming up. Despite the general holiday cheer, the ministry was buzzing with disturbances, and James was kept late at work almost every night, which left her alone with Russell most of the time. She'd be damned if she didn't take advantage of the one weekend that James seemed to be completely unoccupied.

"Voldemort dies and yet the world is still ripe with terror," Lily said to herself, dressing quickly in an overcoat and scarf. "James! Is Russ dressed yet?"

"Mum! I'm four I can dress myself!" A cry came from upstairs.

Lily sighed and James came down the stairs with a laughing Russell under his arm.

"Did you make out your Christmas list, Russell? We're going to the post, so you'd better have it ready. Santa won't get everything you want unless you give him enough time to make it," Lily said, as seriously as possible.

Russell handed her his list, written in sloppy 4-year-old handwriting. She was able to make out a broom stick, numerous other toys from Zonkos, and at the end… a book.

_The Rise and Fall of Dark Wizards: Children's Edition._

Lily looked at Russell. "Why do you want this, darling?"

Russell looked at the list. "Harry's in it, isn't he? That's what Ginny Weasley told me. I want to read about Harry."

Lily looked at James, who seemed about as lost as she was. "Darling, you don't need to read about him, just ask us."

"You never answer my questions though! You won't even tell me how he died."

"When you're older, I promise. It's not something you should trouble yourself with."

"He's _my_ brother! How come Ginny Weasley knows more about my own brother than I do?" Russell glared, crossing his arms before storming into the next room.

In truth, Lily and James knew why he was so upset. They had told him about Harry, and how he had been killed by the Dark Lord, but there were never any specifics. What could they share with a 5-year-old about the truth of why Harry had to die? How Lily and James couldn't save their only son? They wanted Russell to know Harry as a normal child, and that was all they could share with him. But when he had gotten older, he showed an increasing interest in the boy that should have been his older brother. He was genuinely frustrated that they wouldn't tell him all that he wanted to know. But how did one tell a child so young that his brother died because Lily and James were too weak to protect him? Or the even more horrific idea… that Harry's death was the reason that they could live without the terror of Voldemort lurking in the shadows?

Lily looked at the list again. "And who on earth would think it was a good idea to make this into a children's book?"

Rosalie was dizzy with all there was to take in Diagon Alley. There was simply too much. Sports, jokes, books, wands, food. Wizards had definitely made their lives in secret. They had their own government, but it was completely secret from the muggle world. Rosalie had dreamed of magic and wizards but she never would have figured they would have all of this!

She shook her head as she passed the Potions shop, caldrons and potions, and even a greasy looking witch behind the counter.

There was a crowd of little boys and girls crowded around a window. They all looked to be about Harry's age. She let go of Sanguini's arm, which she had been clinging to tightly since they entered Diagon Alley, and walked closer to see what they were chattering about. In the window, there were… broomsticks… on display. She stared puzzled, wondering why on earth children would be so excited over cleaning supplies.

She turned to Worple, who hadn't stopped talking for the past hour or so.

"Ah! The Nimbus! Fastest broom yet!" Rosalie stared at him.

"Do you mean to tell me that these brooms…"

"Fly! Oh my dear, I keep forgetting that you're not familiar with the basics! Most amusing way to get around, brooms. We have sports that are played on broomsticks as well." Rosalie watched as he scribbled _Quidditch Through the Ages_ on the list he had been making of all the things Rosalie needed to buy. It was getting quite long.

Rosalie looked at the broomsticks again, and wondered perhaps if Harry would enjoy one. She grabbed Sanguini's arm and proceeded into the store.

There were loads of children inside, and she heard the clinking of gold in their bags. On one particular shelf, she saw an assortment of small golden balls. When she looked closer, there were fragile looking wings curled around them. She hesitantly picked one up and promptly dropped it when the wings began to uncurl. But the ball fluttered in front of her, as though waiting for her to catch it. She held out a hand, and it landed in her palm.

"A golden snitch."

Rosalie looked at the little man in front of her. "Are you looking to buy one?"

Rosalie raised a perfectly sculpted brow at him. "What does it do?"

"Oh! You are not familiar with the sport? Quidditch, my dear. You need this ball to play Quidditch."

Worple once again materialized out of nowhere. "Forgive her, Bernard! She's not a witch, she's a vampire. We're just showing her around the wizard world, getting her used to the culture." Worple grinned from ear to ear.

Suddenly, the formerly kind little man's eyes widened, and he began to mumble under his breath. For anyone else, it would have been unintelligible, but Rosalie heard quite distinctly, "…bringing dangerous blood-suckers into my shop…"

Rosalie glared at him, and the man shrunk in fear. She put the snitch in her pocket without offering to pay for it, and stalked out the front door, all her presuppositions about wizards being proved accurate. She heard Worple drop a few coins into the man's outraged hands as he followed her out the door.

"I'm afraid he is one of the bad ones when it comes to magical creatures. Not to worry though, they're not all like that," Worple said hurriedly.

Rosalie looked at Sanguini for confirmation, but he shook his head the moment Worple had his back turned.

She didn't cool down for another block or so, quickly becoming distracted by the various shops and the funnily dressed citizens of the wizarding world. The idea that Harry could belong to a world that was vastly different from hers, a world that had not place for her or her kind in it, was quite disheartening. With every step she took, her fear of losing Harry to this place increased. She could barely stand it.

"This is the pet store! Not your run of the mill pets, mind you. Toads, owls, cats, rats, kneazels…"

Rosalie peered into the window of the pet store. The owls were quite magnificent. "What is the purpose of an owl as a pet?"

"Why, they are the most useful for a wizard to have. They carry the post, deliver messages, are very loyal partners for the most part," Worple said. "If you want, I will buy your boy an owl. It will be most useful to him once he comes into the wizarding world."

"What do you mean?" Rosalie hadn't had any intention of letting Harry actually come here. She needed to understand her son, not push him away from her into a world she wasn't welcome in.

"Well, if your son is indeed a wizard, he will be getting a letter from a wizarding school when he is eleven years old. That is the age when they start learning to do magic. They can do accidental magic without the use of a wand until that point, but it is only in school that they can legally refine their powers."

"A letter?"

"Of course, he is living with a family of non-wizards, so it is likely that a representative from the school nearest to you will come to explain the situation. I do now know of magic schools near… Alaska, did you say? Anyway, it doesn't matter. If you want your boy to get the finest training available, you will want him to go to Hogwarts."

"Hogwarts?" It sounded awful to Rosalie.

"Yes! The headmaster is the best one they've had in ages! It is where all the wizards from Britain and parts of the Americas go! The teachers are wonderful and there are wide ranges of study available that you won't get from the other schools in the area."

"What about these other schools?" Rosalie asked.

"Well, there's Beauxbatons in France, but that's an all girls school. There's Durmstrang in Sweden, but it's for Dark Wizards…or so I've heard."

Rosalie was astounded. There was a school that taught Dark wizards? What kind of society was this?

"But you've got some time to make a decision. The boy is only seven, right? It's just something to consider. Either way, Dumbledore will most likely pay your family a visit within the next year or so, just so you can get used to the idea. Now, about that ow…"

Rosalie conceded to an owl. Harry always wanted a pet, and an owl was about as good as it got. Any other four-legged animal and she wasn't sure it would survive in the Cullen house for any length of time. It would be a good present for him anyway and she was happy with the choice. It was a beautiful white owl with dark brown eyes. Harry would adore her.

"Well, you did say you wanted some more information on what to expect. What says we get to Flourish and Blotts then? They'll have some books that can help you out."

Sanguini sighed as he led the way to the bookstore. Rosalie wasn't impressed with the outside, and even less with the inside. It was so dusty, she wasn't sure how the place stayed in business. She swept a hand in front of her face.

Worple was already three shelves in, browsing for books that looked hundreds of years old. It was likely that she would get first editions of most of the things she was looking for.

"AH! Hogwarts, A History! This is a definite must-read! Not only will you get a lot of information about Hogwarts, but there is lots of information about what your son should expect at school and the wizarding world! Fascinating, really. Oh, Tales from Beetle the Bard! He'll _really _enjoy this. Wizarding fairy tales for young ones." He rattled off, darting from shelf to shelf, the pile in Sanguini's hands becoming larger and larger.

Rosalie walked to the other side of the store, looking at the titles. The more she saw, the more horrified she became. _Wanderings with Werewolves. Secrets of the Darkest Art. Monster Book of Monsters. _

Rosalie had just about had enough when she felt a slight pressure on her leg. She looked down to see a tuft of unruly red hair looking up at her with blinking brown eyes. She smiled tentatively down at the boy. The way his hair seemed to stick up at the back reminded her of Harry.

"Sorry miss," the little boy murmured, looking up at her in awe.

Rosalie nodded to him, still sporting a small smile. She regarded the crowded bookstore, but she didn't see the boy's parents. "Are you lost?" she asked. She really didn't have the time to go about looking for lost parents, but she couldn't very well leave him stranded. At least, not when he was looking at her so hopefully.

He shook his head quickly, grinning widely at her. He held a book in his hands with moving pictures on the cover. She tilted her head in astonishment for a moment, before remembering herself.

But the boy seemed to find nothing weird in her surprise. He smiled sweetly and held the book up. Rosalie indulged the boy and pretended to be interested in his book. _The Rise and Fall of Dark Wizards_ was written in large lettering across the top, and haunting images cluttered the cover.

"Are you a muggle?" The boy asked, and Rosalie blinked. Right. Muggle was the name wizards had for non-magical people.

"Not… quite," she answered, but the more she looked, the more interested she became with the book. "What is this you're reading?"

"It's about Dark Wizards. I'm not supposed to read it, but I already know a lot. My friend has a lot of older brother that tell us all sorts of stuff about dark wizards."

Rosalie tried to cover her dismay at a child as young as this one reading about Dark Wizards. The more she saw of the nature of this world, the more she was dissatisfied with it. She briefly considered that perhaps the person who was responsible for destroying the house where she found Harry was in the book. Unlikely, but then again she did need to know what Harry would be getting himself into if she let him attend the wizarding school. What kind of people he could be consorting with. Or if she even wanted him to go at all. She was sure that if she found something wrong with it, she could convince her family a school for wizards was not for Harry.

"May I see it?"

The boy nodded, but didn't give it to her. Instead, he stood next to her to guide her through the ages of dark wizards. Herpo the Foul, Emeric the Evil, Morgan Le Fay, Gellert Grindelwald…

The more she stood with the boy, the more she was started to miss her own little boy back home. Her phone felt heavy in her pocket, and she could hardly resist the urge to call Emmett to make sure Harry was OK, and if he was missing her at all.

"Russell Potter!"

Rosalie looked up just in time to see a flustered redheaded woman scoop up the boy, scolding him quietly before smiling pleasantly at her. "I'm sorry, darling. He's such a curious little thing. I hope he wasn't bothering you?"

Rosalie tried to smile, but her pre-conceived notions about her kind made what might have been a pleasant smile into more of a wince. "Not at all, madam," she drawled, but the woman didn't seem to notice. She wondered if she would be so pleasant if she knew that Rosalie was a vampire.

"Were you showing her your book? What did you get?" The woman looked down at the book in her boy, Russell's, hand. She frowned when she saw the cover. Rosalie briefly caught a glimpse of the title. _'The Rise and Fall of Dark Wizards: Children's Edition. _So they taught children Dark Arts when they weren't even out of diapers, did they?

The woman didn't seem pleased though. "Russell, that's not a good book for you…"

Russell struggled with the woman as she tried to take the book from him. "Harry's in here!" he cried in dismay, smacking his lips together. Rosalie frowned at the name. It couldn't possibly be the same.

"I know, but there are other ways of finding out about your brother. This isn't what you want, darling."

Russell smacked his lips together again, and Rosalie was once again startled at the similar mannerisms of the boy and Harry.

"Lily? Did you find him?" Rosalie's head turned as a man appeared from behind one of the numerous bookshelves. She couldn't stop her mouth from falling open. She immediately recognized the unruly black hair, the thin face, the nose, the shape of his cheekbones.

Harry?

Rosalie felt a chill overtake her, and gulped inaudibly as the man, looking so much like an adult version of her Harry, moving towards the woman. She saw his eyes widen upon seeing her, the telltale attraction beginning to show. Rosalie turned her head, her eyes begging for an escape.

Instead, her eyes met the woman's, and she felt the world start to shrink around her. Green eyes. More importantly, _Harry's_ green eyes.

Her eyes drifted to the redheaded boy in the Lily's arms. Russell _Potter. _

'_Harry Potter' _

"Darling? Are you alright?" Lily looked concerned, reaching for her shoulder, but Rosalie wrenched herself away.

Harry's parents. Alive. With another child.

"F-fine… I really must go… keep a better eye on your kid."

She was out of the bookstore before the Potter's had time to blink.

She wrenched the hood up over her head, and fled down the street, the green cloak fluttering ominously behind her.

Good God, she had all but stolen her baby right out from under them.

It was impossible. She had been so sure that Harry's real parents were long gone. They had left their child, alone, in the middle of their rubble. What kind of parents did that?

Rosalie thought about the adorable red-haired baby in Lily Potter's blissfully ignorant hands. Obviously, she had gotten over her loss of her first child tolerably well; enough to replace it with another anyway.

Rosalie couldn't help the self-righteous thoughts that crept into her mind. Lily had let her child wander about alone in the middle of a crowded bookstore. The boy was small, and reading books about the Dark Arts, which Rosalie knew was bad. After losing Harry, it seemed the mother still didn't know how to raise a child.

Of course Harry was much better off with Rosalie and the Cullens. Of course he was going to grow up with a much better outlook on life than _Russell Potter_. Harry wouldn't lose himself in dark magic and crucify magical creatures or the like. Harry wouldn't grow up with a mother that lost him the market place or left him alone in a collapsing house.

Rosalie took one look back, and saw the red hair emerging from the bookstore.

Rosalie tried not to see Harry in the woman, in the child, in the man. Was it even possible that two people could look so much alike as Harry and his father did?

She looked down. Her hand was still wrapped around the book the boy had been reading. In her haste, she had forgotten to pay for it.

"My dear? Rosalie?" She saw Worple sticking his head out of the shop. By then, the Potters had disappeared into the crowd. She calmed, and clasped the book tightly in her hands. She approached Worple, still watching her surroundings closely for signs of the family.

"Sorry about that. I'm afraid I got spooked."

"No worries, my girl. Have everything you need then? I can handle the payment for the books. You and Sanguini wait here. I think you'll be pleased with our findings."

Rosalie watched warily as he waved his wand and the stack of books in Sanguini's hands floated back into the store after him.

Sanguini smiled at her. "Did something happen in there?"

Rosalie thanked the cosmos that he wasn't able to read her mind. "Oh no. Just needed to get out of the dust."

Rosalie let out a breath as she arrived back on the streets of London. Though it was fascinating, she had never been happier to leave a place in her life. She didn't know how she was going to conceal her findings from Edward, but she would do her best. Her family didn't need to know that Harry's real parents were still alive. That he had a little brother.

"Well, Ms. Rosalie! I think we made some wonderful progress here today! I am very pleased you've agreed to see me to your house, and to meet your little boy. I'm sure he will fit in quite nicely with the Wizarding world…" Rosalie cut Worple off.

"If we decide that is something he should do," she stated firmly. Worple looked shocked.

"My dear, it is a serious offense to keep a wizard child from its heritage…"

"How do you mean?"

"The child must learn to control its abilities, not only for his own safety but for those around him as well. If his magic should go unchecked, there's no telling what kind of peril he could get into."

"I assure you, he is a very responsible boy," Rosalie said, angry that he would insinuate that Harry could hurt her. "We are very capable of defending ourselves and raising him the right way."

"My dear, I don't mean to say you are unfit as a parent. But a child's magic is erratic and unchecked. A wizard child can tell early on that they are different. It is important for them to know that they are not alone and that they must learn how to control it. There are many regrettable instances in which children whose muggle parents didn't allow them to attend school have accidentally hurt themselves or their family. You are vampires but wizarding ability affects you just as much as it does muggles." Worple was serious for the first time since Rosalie had met him.

Sanguini was also grave. "As amusing as it might be, wizarding children can be dangerous. The only practical thing to do it to send the boy to school where he can not only learn to control himself but also learn the different ways of using it."

Rosalie bit her lip, for the first time realizing that she may not have a choice with Harry being raised at home or at a school full of dangerous wizards.

Suddenly, Worple brightened again. "Why don't we talk it over with your family? I'd love to meet your little boy. I simply can't get over how wonderful this could be!" He summoned a small bag out of his robes and proceeded to stuff the day's purchases into it with little trouble. Rosalie had seen many things she didn't care for that day, but she could see how something like that could be useful.

"Here we are. You don't mind apparating, do you?"

Rosalie raised a brow, wondering exactly what he was talking about. Before she could give a definite answer, however, Worple grabbed her arm and Sanguini's shoulder and the last thing she could recall was a very unpleasant feeling of being squeezed through a hose that was much to small for her.

The second she was back in front of her house, she fell gracelessly to the ground. For a moment she felt as though the world was spinning around her. She got to her feet quickly, brushing the gravel off of her clothes.

Worple smoothed his robes, and patted a bored-looking Sanguini on the back. "What a beautiful house, my dear! Marvelous! Wish I had a place like this of my own."

Rosalie was very displeased that Worple had invited himself to her house. She told him that he could interview them, if for no other reason to gain more information from him, but she certainly hadn't intended for it to be that day. But it didn't matter at the moment. She could only find the space in her head to wonder about Harry.

She shouldn't have worried, for in the next second, she heard the distant sounds of Emmett racing through the forest, coming almost immediately to her side. On his back was a rather sick-looking Harry.

"Emmett!" Rosalie snatched Harry from him, putting him on the ground.

Harry smiled at her, leaning on her for a second, gaining his balance back. Rosalie felt much the same not moments ago.

Rosalie turned to yell at Emmett, who was looking at the oddly dressed man with amusement. "I figured that you would be spending all day with wizards, but did you have to bring one home with you?"

Harry's eyes widened when he heard Emmett call the man a wizard, and began to approach him slowly, eyes moving quickly over Worple's garments. He held up his hands to sign to the man, and Rosalie realized that she had forgotten to mention that Harry couldn't talk.

Worple leaned down to eye-level with Harry. He had wondered how a mortal boy could be raised by a family of vampires, but he certainly seemed well-adjusted, if a little shy. And what on earth was he doing with his hands?

Harry focused on asking the man if he really was a wizard, but grew frustrated when the man didn't answer. It was unnerving that the man only stared at him in confusion. Harry smacked his lips, and signed again, to no avail. He looked to Rosalie, who was whispering heatedly to Emmett something that Harry couldn't make out.

Harry turned instead to the man's friend, who was looking down at him in similar interest.

"He's a shy little one, isn't he?" The wizard said, looking at him fondly.

The taller man with the black clothes rolled his eyes. "He's mute, Eldred. He's trying to communicate through sign language."

Worple's eyes widened comically and Harry smiled at him, glad to have finally gotten his message across. "A mute wizard!"

Rosalie advanced on him quickly, her eyes dark with anger. Emmett grabbed her by the waist and held her there long enough to ask, "Is that a problem?"

Worple spluttered for a moment before gathering himself again. "I'm not sure. I shouldn't think so, spells don't need to be spoken to be cast but that is fairly advanced. Students don't learn that until their fifth or sixth years. Apparently some exception will have to be made for young… er... what did you say his name was?"

"Harrison Cullen, sir. I'm Emmett, his _father_," Emmett said, smiling widely at the wizard.

Worple seemed to be struggling with something but was pulled out of it when he felt tugging on his robes. He looked down to see Harry looking up at him with sparkling green eyes. _Like Avada Kedavra_, he thought faintly. The boy was making quick hand motions at him.

"What's he saying?" He asked Emmett.

"He says he can do magic without speaking," Emmett answered, ruffling Harry's hair.

Worple sighed. "Oh course, but that's not the problem. Accidental magic only needs to have a thought to be performed…"

Harry stared helplessly up at Worple. Rosalie had left that morning and come home with a… a wizard? A wizard that seemed to think that he couldn't do magic because he couldn't talk. That he couldn't go to school. Was there a school for kids like him? His heart swelled hopefully.

He narrowed his eyes and concentrated on Worple. If Harry's inability to speak was a problem for him, he would prove he could do magic even without his voice.

Worple was still staring concerned down at Harry when he realized that Harry was getting steadily lower to the ground. It took him a second to register exactly what was happening, but by the time he did, he was already about twenty feet in the air.

"Merlin!"

Harry smiled at his handiwork. In another second, Worple was upside down, his robes falling into his face. He let out a cry of astonishment, and then he was flipped again.

Rosalie's mouth dropped open. She had known Harry was doing magic. She never had guessed just how much. And she knew exactly who had been helping him.

"EDWARD!"

Meanwhile, Harry was bouncing Worple up and down in the air, delighting in the knowledge that the man was impressed by his skill.

"This is marvelous! My boy, you are a prodigy!"

Sanguini was looking on in amusement. The little boy was definitely talented. He had been around wizards enough to know that a wizard child that could perform intentional wandless and wordless magic was something rare. He could tell by the look on his friend's face that he was no longer interested in the vampires. He was much more enamored with the boy wizard that lived among them.

"Sanguini! Are you seeing this!"

"Yes, Eldred. I have eyes, afterall."

"Can you imagine what kind of potential?"

"It's not really of interest to me. I'm a vampire."

"Of course, Dumbledore must know about this!" Worple cried as Harry lowered him to the ground. All the concern on his face was replaced by a sense of wonderment... or it could have been dizziness.

"Who is this Dumbledore, anyway?"

"Did you call me?" Edward appeared on the doorstep. Rosalie made sure to focus her thoughts on Harry's magical skill than on what she had discovered in London that day.

Edward smiled, walking forward and ruffling Harry's hair. The boy immediately wrapped his arms around his waist, coming only up to Edward's stomach. Worple spared a look at the pair, but shrugged it off.

"Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and arguably the most powerful wizard currently living. Harry would benefit greatly from meeting him and having him as a mentor. He is a very busy man, but I feel sure that something like this would peak his interest."

Edward frowned. "There's a school for wizards?" He looked at Rosalie, silently asking if she knew anything about this.

Rosalie shook her head. "I just found out about it today."

"Why would Harry peak the man's interest? He's a normal wizard, isn't he?" Emmett asked.

Harry let Edward go and started making signs with his hands. Edward translated. "He says he doesn't want any preferential treatment."

Worple was enchanted. "What a darling child you have raised! And so humble!"

Sanguini rolled his eyes. "Please, there is no reason to drag Dumbledore into this. You just want attention, Worple. The child would be fine to study on his own to make sure that he can fit in at school. If there are any problems, I'm sure Rosalie will contact you, right, Rosalie?"

Rosalie nodded. On the one hand, she was happy that her Harry was apparently a prodigy at his age. On the other, he was likely to draw attention to himself if indeed a powerful wizard would take interest in him. She didn't want many wizards knowing about him, especially if those wizards were likely to know the Potters.

Worple was disappointed, but picked himself up again. "If that is the way you see it, Sanguini. I don't want to pressure the boy. However, I would still like to stick around to interview your family about your lifestyle, if that is still acceptable."

Edward rolled his eyes when he saw the delusions going on in the man's head. He looked down at Harry, only to find the boy's attention focused elsewhere. He was staring directly into a small bag at Sanguini's side.

Sanguini seemed to realize he had Harry's attention, and opened the bag to reveal a large white owl. Harry brightened.

Rosalie watched his hands work quickly. "Yes, it's for you, darling. We found it in the wizard market today. Apparently, it's popular for wizarding children to have an owl as a pet."

Harry ran towards the owl and took it tentatively from Sanguini. The owl hooted softly at him, staring widely at him.

"He loves it," Edward said, smiling.

"These are yours as well, young Harry." Sanguini took out a pile of books. Harry looked intently at the sack instead of the books. Sanguini sighed and began to explain the magic of the bag to him.

Rosalie smiled affectionately at Harry, pleased that he was happy with the gifts. Harry began to ask more questions of Sanquini, and Edward quickly walked over to translate. She knew that it was going to be a while until she could pry the two wizards from Harry's curiosity.

"Why don't we move this into the house, then?"

"Are the rest of your wonderful family in there?" Worple asked, eyes sparkling with excitement. He entered the house without another word, and promptly began to spill compliments over whoever he had encountered.

Harry grabbed Sanguini's hand and began to drag him into the house, leaving Edward to pick up the books. Rosalie followed, wondering if she had made the right decision.

TBC

Thank you all for your patience with this story. I know it's got to be frustrating. Thanks for all your wonderful encouragement as well. I'll start promptly on the next chapter as well.

Love, Azzie.


	8. The Grey Man

When You Say Nothing At All

By: azzie adams

AN: I own nothing.

Thanks to OccAmy Phyre as always. Hope you all enjoy.

**Seven**: The Grey Man

A loud grunt followed by a thump as a body hit the ground echoed through the field as Edward managed to secure his meal for the evening. He wiped his face as he sat to wait for his siblings to arrive, wringing his hands anxiously and silently forcing them to hurry. It was Harry's first time alone in the house. To make sure that he didn't do anything to hurt himself, they had stayed pretty close to their backyard. Edward was still nervous that Harry would get carried away with his magic.

Over the past few months Worple had been a frequent guest at the Cullen house. Sanguini sometimes accompanied him, but the vampire seemed to understand their need for privacy more than the wizard.

Honestly, Edward was concerned. Worple kept filling Harry's head with stories of Hogwarts, of its infamous Headmaster Dumbledore, trolls, goblins, mermaids, and the like. Harry had been eating it up and always ready with more questions as well as questions over when he could go to Diagon Alley. When could he go to Hogwarts?

Harry was eight. He would get his Hogwarts letter the year he would turn 11. Three years.

Three very short years before Harry would get shipped off to the place that the Cullens couldn't go. Edward couldn't see him unless it was during Christmas Break. But would Harry even want to come home? He was so fascinated by magic, it would seem that they would have to force him to come home twice a year. After all, they couldn't teach him magic, they could only teach him how to be a vampire. Which he wasn't.

Edward enjoyed the tricks that Harry had been learning from the books they had bought him. He could periodically change his own hair color. At one point he managed to turn his own feet blue. He could make Esme's pots and pans levitate and even switch burners while she wasn't looking. He could turn his owl into a pigeon and then back again, which didn't seem to please the owl. Harry had chosen to call her Hedwig from a name he had found in _Hogwarts, A History. _Rosalie thought it was a rather ridiculous name, but even she couldn't argue with Harry. His excitement over a pet was contagious.

Hogwarts seemed like a wonderful place. He had been reading the books Worple kept bringing Harry as presents and had read through all the books containing information about Hogwarts. The place seemed like it was perfect for Harry. There would be plenty of children of his own kind to play with, to learn from. The teachers took particular interest in their students from what he had read. If Worple was any indication, Harry would get plenty of interest from his teachers. Apparently, it was rather rare for a child to be able to do wandless magic. Worple thought that it might be because of his handicap that his magic had adapted to perform even without a wand or a verbal command.

"You could probably save yourself the money and skip buying a wand, though you don't seem like you would have any problems with buying one, of course. It's the most expensive thing Harry will have to buy. But I suppose it's good to have one, just in case one day his voice comes back," Worple had explained.

"Is that likely?" Rosalie asked. The best thing about magic, she supposed, would be getting Harry to speak again. Or at all, since she didn't actually know whether it was a mental or a magical problem.

Worple seemed uncomfortable. "Well, I could take the matter to Dumbledore and see what he thought…"

"No," Rosalie insisted. "There isn't another way?"

"I'll do some checking, but it first starts with the boy. If he really wants to speak, then his magic should correct the problem. If he doesn't want to speak, or doesn't see the need, than he won't. It could be that there is some kind of a curse on him. But the first issue is getting Harry to want to speak and then to get him to start trying to speak."

Edward shook his head, alone in the woods with no one to witness. Harry wanted to speak. He just couldn't.

"Maybe you could work some of your magic hoo-doo on him to see if he's under some kind of spell?" Emmett had suggested.

Worple shook his head. "I've tried that. The only reason I think that it might be a spell is because of that scar on his forehead."

…'_That kind of a scar comes from dark magic, an untraceable magic. That is why I suggested Dumbledore. He's the only one I can think of that might know what the scar is from, and what consequences it has…'_

It all came back to Dumbledore. In Edward's opinion, they should have contacted the old wizard the second they found out about the scar that could be a curse, but Rosalie was adamant about keeping it a secret.

"My Harry is not someone to be observed and studied. He's a little boy. He's my son. I don't want anyone else knowing about him and I definitely don't want some powerful and probably dark wizard to come and do Lord knows what with him!" Rosalie was practically seething.

Edward had half a mind to go and try to find Dumbledore on his own. He couldn't do it without Worple though. Non-magical folk wouldn't even be able to see the entrance to the wizarding world. While he was a vampire, he definitely wasn't magical. Perhaps he could ask Worple… or even Sanguini in secret and have them at least ask Dumbledore what the chances were that Harry was cursed and if there was a way to cure him. At least they could find a way to help him speak again.

It would mean the world to Rosalie to have Harry actually be able to talk.

"Edward! We're heading back!"

Edward followed Jasper's voice to meet the rest of them before running back. Rosalie had already sped off to make sure that Harry was still alive. How much trouble could he get into sitting and reading on the back porch, anyway?

Rosalie had been steering clear of Edward for the past few months, since her trip to Diagon Alley. Edward figured she was still mad about encouraging Harry to do magic while she wasn't looking. It had gotten strange though. She would duck out of a room as Edward entered. When he tried to read her mind it was suspiciously blank, or filled with anything but Harry and magic.

He was beginning to think that she knew something about Harry, something she didn't want him or anyone else to know.

"Well, I'll be damned."

Rosalie had stopped short, where the trees met the neatly trimmed grass of their backyard. The grass was orange.

And across the lawn Harry sat, looking foolish on the steps of the porch, clutching his book to his chest.

"Brilliant son. In your first act as a world-class wizard, you have successfully killed the grass," Emmett pretended to wipe his eyes as if Harry had done something wonderful.

_It's not dead… it's just orange…_ Harry's confused voice floated across Edward's mind. _It was supposed to grow really tall. I think I said something wrong…_ He squinted at the page again.

Edward relayed the information to the rest. Carlisle chuckled. "Pronunciation is key, Harry, so Worple tells me. Also it's a matter of swishing the wand the right way but since you don't have one, we can rule that out."

Rosalie was at Harry's side in a moment, watching him as he traced his index finger across the paragraph that contained the spell.

Then he looked up and stared long and hard at the grass. The blades began turning into small bubbles and blowing away,

"There's a spell for turning grass into bubbles? And wizards think _we're_ nonsensical," Emmett laughed, waving his hands through the air and popping all the small shiny bubbles that rose from the ground.

"I'll have to tell the gardener to make another trip. We just had it done last week…" Carlisle shook his head mournfully.

'I've got it!'Harry signed rapidly. His frustration was showing through his concentration. 'I'll make it grow back…'

"Maybe you should call it a night, darling," Rosalie soothed, running her fingers through his hair.

Harry wouldn't have it though. He wanted to be perfect by the time he got to school. He didn't know when the other children with magical parents had started learning, but he was sure that he was very far behind. The other children were probably turning cars into kayaks and Harry couldn't even make the grass grow. Worple tirelessly complimented him whenever he managed to perform a spell around him, but he didn't want his inability to talk keep him from being on the same magical level as the other students.

Edward sighed. "I don't think Worple is patronizing you, Harry. He says that you are really good for your age."

Harry grumbled. _I'm tired of not being like everyone else, Edward! I'm a wizard and I'm still different than them because they can talk! I'd rather be able to talk than be 'special'. _

Rosalie rubbed his back, trying really hard not to think about Hogwarts, wizards, witches…

Russell Potter…

She quickly looked at Edward to see if he'd heard anything but he seemed very focused on Harry. She licked her lips, and hugged Harry closer to her side. "We can call Worple and see if he can't give you some pointers."

Harry looked up hopefully. Rosalie smiled and got up to make the call.

She didn't feel Edward's eyes burning into her back as she left.

_Who is Russell Potter?_

_..._

Eldred Worple paced through the halls of the Ministry of Magic. He was aware that the middle of a busy hallway wasn't the best place to ponder things, but since he didn't actually work at the ministry it was the best place he could find. He took a seat on one of the benches by the arrival fireplaces and watched as wizards and witches walked in and out. He had been fighting for a long time for the magical world to accept other creatures as equally reasonable and humane. It hadn't yielded much confidence, though.

Harry was a very special case that he had been working on diligently. The scar on his forehead was dark magic, but his resources were limited given that Rosalie didn't want anyone to know about him besides Worple. And if he were to tell most anyone else that there was a handicapped and cursed wizard child living among vampires there would be a call for removal almost on the spot.

He didn't want that for Harry. Harry loved the Cullens, but he also loved magic. Unfortunately, he would soon have to make a choice over what he loved more. Either that or the Cullens would have to become much more acquainted with wizard culture.

But before he could even think about the future for the Cullens, he had to think of something he could do for Harry.

"Worple!"

He got up with a start, seeing the Minister of Magic standing directly in front of him. He dropped his hat as he extended his hand to the man.

"Minister! What a surprise!"

"It shouldn't be since I am the head of the building, Eldred."

Worple laughed nervously. The Minister wasn't his biggest fan. Fudge didn't think that any magical creatures deserved rights in the Wizarding world. That made the relationship between the two strained, to say the least.

"What are you up to? You seemed to be very deep in thought when I came upon you. I hear Sanguini has an interview coming up. Afraid he won't be able to control himself?" Fudge laughed at his own joke.

"Now, now, Fudge. Sanguini has been a perfect guest on many different occasions. I see no reason to condemn him before he has the time to do something wrong."

Worple gulped as he turned to face the new voice. He found himself staring directly into the sparkling blue eyes of one Albus Dumbledore. The last man he wanted to see. He turned his face away quickly, as if the man could see straight through him if he looked closely.

"Hmm," Fudge scoffed. "You're hardly ever wrong, Albus. But I still have my doubts."

"Instincts are very important to have, Minister. The best defense mechanisms really. But you don't need to instigate prejudice on a man that has done nothing wrong."

"I must be going. Thank you for your advice today, Albus. I'll take your comments into consideration," Fudge said before bowing away and walking towards the stairs.

Dumbledore turned to Worple, who was too busy cursing his luck to notice the man was staring quizzically at him. "Is something bothering you, Eldred?"

Worple swallowed, clearing his throat. What was the harm in just asking? He could always just leave out the name… right?

He turned, and once again, Dumbledore's penetrating gaze threw him off.

"W-what do you know about cursed scars?"

Albus frowned, thinking for a moment. "Cursed scars? I think you should probably go to the Magical Maladies Department at St. Mungos…"

"No, not me…" Worple's curiosity got the better of him. "There's this boy… a child. Very young… he's a wizard living with a… muggle family."

Dumbledore nodded, his thick white eyebrows raised.

"Um. He has this scar on his forehead. Apparently he's had it as long as his family has known him…"

"Known him? Was he born with the scar?"

"N-no…."

"So the family he lives with currently is not his birth family?"

"No. My point is…"

"Perhaps he was born in a wizard family and there was an accident, is that what you are asking?"

Worple had talked himself into a corner, which he could have predicted. It was Albus Dumbledore, after all. Nevertheless, he tried to steer the conversation out of deep and personal waters.

"What I know is that his current family found him when he was a baby and that he has a scar on his forehead that hasn't faded at all since he got it… whenever he got it. I've had the chance to look at it and I believe that dark magic caused it. The boy himself is unable to talk, but he can still do wandless, wordless magic. What I would like to know is if the curse has anything to do with him being mute." The words came out in a rush, but Worple was rather pleased that he had managed to get his concerns out without letting Dumbledore interrupt him again with uncomfortable questions.

Albus stood silent for a moment, patting his beard in thought. This wasn't what he had been expecting when he entered the Ministry building that morning for his usual consultation with Fudge about the goings-on of the Wizarding World. But it was a rather welcome surprise. It also seemed very interesting that a boy—a baby apparently—had survived a dark curse, and escaped with only a scar.

"Hmmm… it's possible that the lack of speech is a side-effect of the curse. But frankly, if that is all that is wrong with him, then he's lucky. Infants don't survive dark magic, especially ones designed to leave a mark. Is there anything else about him that seems odd to you?"

Worple almost chuckled. "Well… no. Not really, sir. Other than…uh… gumption. Lots of gumption."

"Gumption…" Dumbledore eyed him oddly. "Well I suppose the first thing you should do is figure out what curse was used on him. I wouldn't mind meeting the boy myself. It's not often that a boy not even in school yet can perform wandless and wordless magic without any mentor. What's the boy's name?"

Worple almost swallowed his own tongue. "The family doesn't want that information disclosed, sir… the circumstances surrounding the boy are… complicated…" He thought for a moment he could curse himself with the Bat-Bogey Hex and quickly be excused to St. Mungo's. Dumbledore would probably see right through it, though… and it might hurt…

"Luckily I am the best there is at keeping secrets," Dumbledore smiled, waiting expectantly for an answer.

_Damn those twinkling blue eyes…_

"Harrison Cullen."

"Harrison Cullen. A fine name, if I do say so myself. I have time next week since I am on break from Hogwarts. I am very anxious to meet our young prodigy. I'll see what can be done about his inability to speak." Dumbledore patted Worple on the shoulder affectionately before the Head Auror whisked him away.

_This could either be really good… or very very bad…_

_..._

"YOU DID WHAT!" Rosalie screamed.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, Eldred…" Sanguini laughed. Worple wasted no time in putting every available piece of furniture between him and Rosalie, including a loveseat with Harry and Jasper still on it. Harry's eyes widened as ottomans, flatscreens, and even Esme's kitchen island sailed over his head and landed directly in front of Rosalie. In fact, he couldn't even see his mother through the mountain of objects in the way.

"I specifically told you to _leave the scar alone!"_ Rosalie ranted.

Edward watched mournfully as she wrecked havoc on his piano, turning it into kindling in the blink of an eye. "50,000 Euro, that costs…"

"Rosalie's got to get a job…" Emmett snickered, ducking as the pile of very expensive timber came flying at him.

"You don't understand! Dumbledore is the best there is. If you ever want Harry to talk again, then Dumbledore is the man you want to speak to!" Worple called over Rosalie's screaming. He winced as a lamp smashed against the wall behind him.

Esme frowned. "Really? Harry will be able to speak if Dumbledore has a look at him?"

Harry poked his head over the back of the loveseat, looking at Worple expectantly. His hair tufted from the static of the seat and stuck out at all angles. Edward snickered at him.

Worple sighed. "I can't guarantee anything, but Dumbledore did say he would be happy to help. It's really rare that an infant should survive a dark curse, especially one that leaves such a lasting mark. He's going to try to figure out what the curse was, and perhaps even answer some questions about who might have cursed him… and why…"

Esme nodded thoughtfully. "I certainly don't see any harm in having another person, a wizard, have a look at him. Rosalie, this man could cure him." She was having a hard time understanding how meeting with a wise wizard about Harry's speech could possibly hurt. From what she had seen with Worple, there were wizards that weren't bad.

Rosalie sneered behind the barricade. Worple had deliberately gone behind her back. Harry was nothing more than an experiment to him. At least that is what she made herself think so Edward wouldn't get suspicious. The truth was, she didn't want anyone else knowing about Harry. There would come a day when Harry would have to go out into the wizarding world, and people would know his name. Worse, they would have to notice the similarities between Harry and that man… James Potter.

They would know that Harry wasn't actually her child, and they would draw the connections between the disappearance of the baby and Harry, a boy of the right age that was the exact twin of his father. Then they would… they could…

… they could take him away from her.

_He's _my_ son, he's mine. They can't take him from me, they can't. I'm his mother, he loves me. I'm a good mother._

_I'm his mother… _

Edward frowned at the thoughts running through Rosalie's mind. Her thoughts were inconsistent. One minute she had been thinking of Worple calling Harry an experiment, and the next she was rambling about being a good mother. Who would take Harry away from her for being mute?

Emmett crawled his way over the furniture, surprised to see his wife leaning against the wall, looking desperate and fatigued. "Rose?"

"I'm a good mother…" she whispered, brokenly.

"What? Of course you're a good mother. No one's saying you're not a good mother. You want what's best for Harry. But don't you think that what's best for Harry is doing everything we can to help him get his voice back?" Emmett reasoned, feeling odd at actually needing to be rational for his wife.

She bit her lip, shaking her head. "Wizards are bad people, Emmett. They'll see he's living with vampires and take him away."

Worple looked flabbergasted. "No one is taking Harry away! I would never let that happen!"

"You let that wizard talk his way into MY HOUSE!" Rosalie screamed. Harry covered his ears, mouthing the word 'OW' to Jasper, who chuckled.

"She's just stressed out, is all. No worries," Jasper whispered.

'Mum's insane,'Harry signed, a smile on his face. He was worried about his mother's nerves, but he had grown up with the understanding that Rosalie frequently overreacted when it came to him. 'It's like she doesn't want me to be able to talk.'

Jasper shook his head. "I'm sure it's not that. She wants you to talk. It's probably the thing she wants most for you. She's just scared. You're a wizard and she's not. I think she's afraid that you'll want to leave her and not come back once you've gone off to school."

Harry frowned. He really did love magic. He wanted to learn all that he could from the people in the wizard world. It hadn't yet occurred to him that the Wizarding world and the world his family lived in were completely separate. Was he supposed to choose one?

Worple checked the clock on the wall. He had put off telling the Cullens about his blunder to the last second. He figured they would have less time to kill him if the threat of a seriously powerful wizard was imminent. Not that he would have wanted them hurt at all. It was more of a precautionary measure than anything. He wouldn't put it past the angry blonde to kill him if she got around the wall made up of home décor, furniture, and Harry and Jasper.

Dumbledore was due any second…

He looked hopefully at the door but sighed in disappointment with the expected knock didn't happen. Albus always seemed to have such impeccable timing.

_I want to be able to talk! Edward, tell her!_ Harry glared at Edward over the back of the couch and the stack of chairs from the dining room table. Hedwig's cage was seated on top of the table itself, and the owl was screeching angrily.

"She knows, Harry. Give it a rest," Edward said distractedly. He was busy reading Rosalie's thoughts and finding more and more was out of place. It was the oddest thing…

Harry collapsed in exasperation. He turned to Jasper. 'Can you lift me over this stuff?'

"Are you sure?" Jasper was doubtful Harry could crawl over the miniature mountain by himself, but Harry nodded enthusiastically.

'I'm a wizard. I can climb over furniture_.'_ He held his hands up expectantly.

Jasper placed his hands on Harry's sides. Harry brought his long legs up so he could get his footing on the chair at the top of the pile. When Jasper let go, he made sure everything was stable before moving forward.

Worple had resorted to desperate measures to protect himself from Rosalie. He had also unintentionally tucked Harry and Jasper deep in the pile of stuff that made it difficult to go anywhere but up. So Harry ascended the chair, Esme's favorite drawing desk and the island from the kitchen, until he got to the overturned bookshelf that was tilted in, so Harry could slide down the rest of the way.

Harry's breath caught.

A sudden stinging sensation whipped through his forehead. The scar seemed to be leeching even farther into his head until it felt as though his brain was being burned from within. Harry's mouth opened in a silent cry before he lost his balance altogether. He didn't care though. He was burning.

Through the pain, he could barely see through his tears. He vaguely registered a hooded figure standing over what appeared to be a lake. He was on the lake… standing on top of it as if the water was somehow solid. Harry's confusion fell away as the figure started to turn toward him. He wheezed as the pain increased.

And then it was gone.

He let out a shocked breath. He heard his family yelling at him, but they weren't on him. They were below him and he was…

…In the air.

His eyes were drawn to a strange grey-haired man by the door, pointing a long stick in his direction. Even from a distance, the man's eyes were distinctly bright behind his half-moon spectacles. His mouth was slightly open in wonder.

Harry felt something drip into his mouth. His tongue flicked out in response, and he winced as the taste. Like copper. It was blood. His scar was bleeding.

_How did that happen?_

He raised his eyes to the wizard again. He made the connection quickly, what with the wand and the fact that he was hovering a few feet above the heap. His nerves were still fried from the vision and as much as he tried to hear what his desperate family was saying, he couldn't.

He also couldn't look away from… Dumbledore, was it?

Albus Dumbledore had felt something as he had approached the house. He had always had a sixth sense when it came to danger, and he had felt it just as he raised his hand to knock on the door of the Cullen's residence.

He quickly abandoned knocking when he heard the screams inside the house. The second he entered, he was greeted with the sight of a young boy convulsing, about to fall from a rather steep pile of furniture that separated his family from the other side of the room. He watched, almost in slow motion, as the boy started to fall and the scar on his forehead began to bleed.

With the flick of his wand, the boy was stopped in the air, but his seizing didn't stop.

When the boy first opened his eyes, he looked right at Albus.

The first thought he had was how familiar the boy looked. He knew the unruly black hair, the long nose and thin face. But most of all he knew the eyes.

His mouth opened in awe.

_Harrison Cullen. _

The boy held his gaze, deaf to the cries of his family around him. Albus saw out of the corner of his eye a tall boy with dark red hair spring up towards the boy, grabbing him around his middle and holding him close. The boy, _Harry_, still kept his eyes on Dumbledore.

Harry thought he looked familiar. But he was sure he hadn't ever seen the man before. _Maybe in a dream._

Dumbledore watched in interest as the red-haired man kept holding Harry even as they made it back to the ground. A tall blonde woman was reaching for him, but the boy wouldn't let go. He was frozen, wrapped around the smaller boy, fingers embedded in his black hair.

Harry didn't look shaken. His eyes were red around the edges, his scar was bloody, and his face was white, but he looked calm.

"Albus! Thank Merlin!" Worple, it seemed, had come out of his shock and was at the old wizard's side in an instant.

"You are Mr. Dumbledore?" He was confronted by a rather attractive woman with the fairest skin he'd ever seen.

"Albus, please," he smiled kindly. "Your hair color is exquisite. May I ask your name?"

Esme laughed, startled by his compliment. "Esme Cullen, sir. Just Esme is fine, though. And thank you. I've never had someone so passionate about my hair."

"Ah, yes. Are you Harr-_ison's _mother?"

"Oh no. Grandmother really. I suppose we're all mothers and fathers to Harry, but no. Rosalie is Harry's adopted mother. Emmett is his father. We're all aunts, uncles, and grandparents, respectively," she smiled.

"You have a lovely family, but I'm afraid I've stumbled in at a bad time. May I ask why there is a mountain of home goods in your living room?"

Worple had the decency to look ashamed but Esme saved him the trouble of having to explain himself by saying they were doing a thorough redecorating of the room. Dumbledore had the sense to not ask questions.

Besides, he was much more interested in knowing how Lily and James' son ended up with a family of vampires, alive and apparently mute.

**TBC**

Don't freak out. I've got a lot more planned for Harry and the Cullens before they finally meet the Potters.

**Love, Azzie.**


End file.
